The Will of fire
by Ryo551
Summary: What starts with my death becomes my new life. My name is Neo Horyu, protector of Konoha, friend of Naruto, No character Bashing, mostly canon, with slight twists leading to a new future.
1. Death and Rebirth

**Will of Fire: My New Life**

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except my OC

**Chapter 1: My Death and Rebirth**

The sun hit my eyes, signalling that it was morning and that it was time for me to get up. I groaned; I really did not want to get up. I thrashed round, trying to get back to sleep. A futile attempt. Slowly I opened my Blue eyes and surveyed my surroundings. A small room with a bookshelf, a desk with a computer on top and a small set of drawers next to my bed. A TV stood at the end of the bed with a PS3 and X-Box 360 wired to it. This was my room.

I got out of my bed and walked to the bathroom. I turned on the tap and splashed myself to get awake. I then got into the shower and started washing myself and brushing my teeth at the same time. After I had finished I walked out and dried myself off. Walking back into my room I dressed myself in a blue shirt with a white phoenix on it.

I pulled on a pair of black cargo pants and my socks and shoes. I quickly brushed my short, white hair. I then turned to the bookshelf. There were a couple of books there. But on the shelf under that there were three pictures. The first one was of a man wearing a white shirt and a kind smile. This was my dad, who had passed away when I was 15. The second picture was of a man and woman, arms round each other and also smiling. This was my Mum and Step-Dad who I loved very much. They too, passed away in a plane crash when I was 17. The third was a little strange.

Firstly because it was a pic from an anime and secondly it was from Naruto, a famous anime at the moment. In the picture was the main character, his two team mates and teacher. If you were a fan of Naruto then you would know what it looked like. Naruto was giving one of his team mates a dirty look, while he just looked disinterested. The second team mate had this really girly expression on her face, no doubt happy to be next to Sasuke; the one Naruto was looking pissed at. The girl was called Sakura. Their teacher, Kakashi, was ruffling Naruto and Sasuke's hair while smiling into the camera. I smiled at all three pictures.

"Well, I'm off. See you when I get back," I said as I walked out of the room, swiping a breakfast bar, my iPod and my USB as I walked out of the house.

My name is Neo horyu. It used to be Neo Syrus but I did not like my last name so I changed it to the two Japanese names of my favourite animals; Ho-o for Phoenix. Since my last two parents died I have been living alone. I had the chance to move in with some of my mum's friends but I politely declined. I didn't want to become a burden. And so now I have been renting a small unit while I attend Uni. I became obsessed with anime and games as an escape from the harsh reality. I know it seems that I run away but I can be in my own little world and can retreat to it. My favourite is the anime Naruto as you've probably already guessed.

I caught the bus to the train station and had boarded the train. The Uni was a fair way away and so I sat down as the train started speeding up. I started to entertain myself as I listened to my music on my iPod. I started thinking, what it would be like to live in Konoha, the place where Naruto lives. In watching the anime I had already finished the first series and was well into the second, Naruto: Shippuuden. I could name each event that unfolded, even the filler episodes. Sounds lame, I know, but it was just such a damn good anime.

I looked out of the window and notice that there was something wrong. _'Aren't we going a bit too fast?'_ I thought. The landscape was flashing past at very fast speeds. And it seamed that we were getting faster. Suddenly there was an explosion in the front car and the heat swept through the second carriage. A few people started screaming. I sprang to my feet.

"Everyone!" I yelled and everyone turned their heads to me. "If we move to the back of the train, we stand a better chance! Let's go!" Everyone started pushing forward as they tried to get to the third carriage. I pushed forward to the front carriage, thinking that there might be someone still alive. The automatic doors still worked and I stepped into the front carriage. It was hot, very hot. My eyes stung and started to water as I searched. I found two schoolgirls that looked like they had been knocked out.

"C'mon, wake up you guys!" I yelled over the roar of the flames. The girls slowly woke up, coughing in the smoke. "What happened?" one asked. "It seems there has been an accident. I need you girls to move to the back of the train while I search for more survivors ok?" The two girls nodded and started crawling along the ground to avoid most of the smoke. The one that spoke turned around and yelled, "Be careful!" before joining her friend. I continued forward to the most damaged part of the train. Sadly it seemed that these people were not so lucky as the girls.

There were smoking corpses everywhere. I kept myself from hurling the contents of the breakfast bar onto the floor and started to turn around when two things happened. First were flashes of lightning from the driver's cabin. The second was the obliteration of the front carriage. Just before I was incinerated my last thought was _'I hope the others will live,' _before the intense flames instantly ended my life.

Floating. That's what I felt like as I regained consciousness. I opened up my eyes to see nothing but white. 'So, I guess that this means that I'm dead and that I'm waiting to be judged for whether I should go to heaven or hell.' I thought as I floated there.

"Hello, Neo," came a kind and very feminine voice. I twisted my head round to see a very beautiful woman dressed in white, standing next to me, smiling. A wealth of long, golden hair framed her breathtaking face as two, deep blue orbs gazed back at me. _'Man! If all angels are this beautiful then I think I'm going to enjoy my time here,' _I thought. Her smile widened. "That's very nice that you think I'm beautiful."

"…. I should have known you could read minds," I grumbled. _'Idiot, idiot, idiot! Now she probably thinks I'm a perv.'_

"I should also say that I'm not an angel," she said.

"Welcome wagon?"

"No,"

"Mesenger?"

"Nope," Her smile was getting wider.

"Umm…the grim reaper?"

"No silly. I'm God,"

"….WHAAAAAAAAAAT!"

The goddess started laughing at this and it was melodious, the laughter seeming to hang and tinkle in the air. It was…enjoyable but I was still scared shitless. God, or rather, Goddess, was standing in front of me. "I-I'm sorry. I meant no disrespect,"

The goddess waved my apology aside. "Don't worry about it. I actually brought you here to ask you a favour."

_'She wants me to do a favour for her?! Wow,' _was all I could think before I reigned in my thoughts and answered her. "What would you have me do?"

She smiled again, something I would never get tired of seeing then she got a serious face. "I need you to help someone to defeat a terrible enemy. Someone is trying to awaken an evil monster that has the power to destroy the entire world by collecting nine beasts and fusing them together which will affect the entire universe?" I nodded. The concept was very familiar to me. "Well everything I made had this foundation built into them. The universe must have balance. This is the task I want you to do for me."

"So, where is this place?" I asked. The goddess then smiled widely and said, "It's where your favourite anime character lives,"

_'Where my…. Oh COOL!'_ I thought. "You mean where Naruto lives!?" I asked. She nodded. "WHOO HOO, YEAH! AWESOME!" I shouted. I was blown away. _'I could see Naruto,'_

"There is another thing I need to ask you to do," asked the goddess as I calmed down. "I need you to befriend Naruto and keep him safe from harm. You'll need his help in your quest."

"Absolutely ma'am! I won't let you down!" I said, bursting with happiness. Then a question popped into my head. "Why did you choose me for this mission?"

The beautiful goddess smiled and said, "Because, for some reason, you seem to an unusual energy which is suitable for dealing high damage to the tailed beasts. I do not know the reason, as unbelievable as that may sound. But I'm not letting this chance slip away." I again nodded. I was not going to complain. "So, when do I leave?"

"You'll leave as soon as I give you some upgrades to help you on this task I have set for you. First I am going to give you an item and change your appearance. Any preference?" she asked. I didn't need to think about this. "Can you give me a replicator and all the knowledge of high tech gadgets since the device will help creating the materials that I need when I go there?"

"Sure, just focus the image of what you want in your mind and I'll do the rest," she said. I brought up a picture in my mind. I remembered an ad for Star ocean: till the end of time and seeing Fayt's Appearance after he got his equipment from Nel. I then felt my hair shorten and morph for a few seconds. Afterwards the goddess summoned a mirror and I was able to see my new hairstyle and a blue bandana. It looked really cool. We then proceeded with other changes. I now wore a black muscle shirt with black cargo pants and a white leather trench coat that was reversible to black. Included was a pair of black, steal capped combat boots. I had slipped on a pair of black leather, fingerless gloves. I was now quite muscular and felt really strong. Although she shrunk me so I looked like 13 years old, but I could handle that. I also got the replicator and made it indestructible and only works for me.

Then we moved onto powers. She allowed me four techniques. When I asked her why she answered, "You shouldn't become too strong at the moment and that you should pick up more skills as you move on." I chose Shadow Clone Jutsu, Flame Shunshin, the Kamehameha Wave and the knowledge of the Kaioken technique since I saw in dbz that goku can keep increasing his body into the next level with more training "I chose that skill so I could test my limits and it will help a lot in my training since it's different from the celestial gates," is the reason I gave for that skill.

Summoning was next and I was given enough knowledge to make myself a seal master. I was also able to choose what summoning contract I wanted to sign. I decided to ask for a custom summoning contract. I called it "The Phoenix Summoning Contract". There were over 20 summons on the scroll. She also allowed for me to choose a summoning jutsu. I chose a jutsu that summoned big red crimson wings. It was called "Phoenix Wings". I thought it was cool.

Next was choosing a bloodline limit. This was hard as I had so many to choose from. I finally chose one where if I touched an object, I would instantly be able to use and master it and also be able to use all the martial art techniques I saw in the video games. For example. If I pick up a musical instrument that I've never played, I would be able to play it and use it perfectly. Or if I picked up a sword, twin daggers or a claymore I would know all the forms and be able to perform them flawlessly an can use a street fighter technuiqes like hadoken and shouruken. However that is only to use them. It doesn't mean that I would have the strength or the physical aspects that I might need to correctly use the object and the techniques. The goddess though that was very fair and complemented me on the choice.

After all was finished she handed me sword to use as a weapon. She explained that it could shape shift into whatever weapon I wanted. She also explained that it would act as a communicating device in case I needed to ask questions or if I just wanted to talk. She said this last part with a wink in my direction. I turned around so she couldn't see me blush. After I had controlled myself I asked her, "Do you have a name?"

She smiled softly and nodded. "You can call me Tina,"

I smiled back. "Tina, that's a nice name," I said. For a moment I thought I saw her blush faintly but it must've been my imagination. I looked down at my sword and got a great idea. I willed it into that shape and then looked down. The sword now looks exactly like the sigma blade and has the same transforming feature. I did a few practice swings before sliding it into a white sheath that Sophie supplied. Like the sword, the scabbard could also shape shift.

Finally she gave me knowledge to pass the Genin Exam when I enter for the test, as well as the Replacement Jutsu and the Henge. I asked if I could keep my iPod and she agreed, even upgrading it so it would never run out of battery power. She also upgraded the earphones so if I turned the volume up the earphones acted like powerful speakers without damaging them. She also handed me a wallet with a large phoenix emblem on the front. "The walled will never run out of money but try to restrain yourself from going on a big shopping spree," she smiled at me.

"Well, that seems all finished. Do you have anymore questions before I send you to a point roughly a mile away from the gates of Konoha?" Sophie asked.

"Well I have a good idea. I would like to help make a difference by helping Naruto increase his skills since he has the shadow clone and it took until 3 years for and kakashi telling him the secret for that technique which could help a lot in the past.

"Ok. I will keep you updated from this end. Talk to you soon," she said before I was swallowed by light.

I felt my feet touch the ground and I opened my eyes. I found myself on the side of the path leading to the giant gates of Konoha. Feeling the excitement welling up inside of me I started walking towards the entrance. I eventually got to the gates and two ninja jumped in front of my way. I recognised them as the two Chunnin that were weeding out the weaklings before the First Test of the Chunnin Exam. _'Izumo and Kotetsu. No doubt I'll see them again,'_ I thought.

"Halt and state your business in Konoha," said Izumo, trying to sound important.

I smiled warmly and said, "I'm here to see the Hokage about citizenship in Konoha and permission to enter the Ninja Academy." Izumo and Kotetsu looked at each other before looking back at me. "Wait here. We'll have ANBU escort you to Hokage-sama," said Kotetsu. I didn't have long to wait before an ANBU appeared. She, this much was obvious, had a cat mask on. _'Must be Yuugao Uzuki,'_ I thought. I saw the long dark purple hair flowing round her head. 'Yep, definitely Yuugao,'

"What's going on here?" she asked. Izumo answered. "He's here to see the Hokage, ANBU-san," Yuugao looked at me then beckoned with her hand. "Well come on. Let's go," she said, a bit disgruntled with having to baby-sit someone. As we walked through Konoha apparently there was a bit of a commotion.

I was just about to ask what was going on when I found the source. Naruto's greatest prank. Painting of the Hokage stone faces. I started laughing and Yuugao looked round to ask what was so funny but she didn't need to as I just pointed at the monument. Even though her face was masked I got the feeling that she was also smirking. Pretending not to know all the details I asked, "Who did that? He must be good,"

"His name is Naruto and he's a ninja-in-training delinquent," was all she said. We stayed in silence as we made our way to the Hokage tower. _'I'm having a blast seeing Konoha for the first time. It's definitely a lot livelier than I thought it would be,'_ I thought. We arrived at the tower and started to climb. There were so many steps. _'I wish I could just chakra walk up this damn tower.'_ Eventually we reached the floor we needed to be on and stopped outside his office. The secretary looked at me as Yuugao explained that I was here to see the Hokage.

"Well you're in luck. There's a spot open now if you're ready to go in?" said the kind secretary. "Thank you, miss," I said as she opened the door. I walked inside. At the opposite end was the old man. After thanking his secretary he got up and cast a privacy jutsu on the room. I looked around, confused before Sarutobi smiled kindly at me. "Well it seems that you are Neo,"

"How did you…" I began to say but his answer cut me off. "I had a visit from your friend Kami-sama,"

"Ooooh. Then I guess you are briefed on the situation?" I asked.

"Yes I am. Kami gave me two sheets of paper. The first one was a fake ID for the records and the second was your details on your real skills. I've already filled out the form for your citizenship and I was just about to contact the Academy to have you transferred. If you are free now we'll go to the class that's graduating tomorrow."

I stood up and bowed. "Thank you for being so understanding about this Hokage-sama." Sarutobi shook his head. "Don't worry about it. I won't go against Kami-sama. Not today anyway. And you can just call me Sarutobi."

"Very well Sarutobi," I answered. "By the way, you do know that I know of the presence of Kyuubi inside of Naruto and that there is someone trying to collect all to the Bijuu to awaken a certain monster?"

Sarutobi nodded. "The last one really threw me for a loop. I almost had a heart attack when she said that she was Kami." I laughed. "I had a similar reaction myself. Tina seems to like surprising people."

"Oh so that's her real name eh? Well, I just want to say thank you for wanting to be Naruto's friend, even if it's just to help you with your task," said Sarutobi. I looked him in the eye and said, "Even if that wasn't the case, I would still be his friend." Sarutobi smiled warmly at me and said, "Thank you. That means a lot to me and I'm sure it will mean a lot to Naruto as well. Now let's get going,"

"By the way do you want to know the secret to defeat paper work?" after I said those words I saw him appearing in front of me begging for the answer while his eye's crying tears.

"Really, you know how to beat paperwork please tell me I'll give you anything please please sobs...sobs...sobs" this was really freaking Neo out, seeing Sarutobi reduced to tears over paperwork was very disconcerting. "Anything you say huh, I want you to train very hard and swear you'll carry-out your promise since it will help save your life in the future" Neo eyes were shinning with possibilities while thinking about what he did "Yes Yes YES I swear please tell me tell me waaahh…tteeelll mmmmeeeee".

"Now as I was saying before, you answer is" a devastating pause. "The Shadow clone technique, I mean it's so simple since everything the clone does and experience comes back to the user".

Sarutobi slapped his forehead, "I am nicknamed the Professor and yet I could never figure out how to defeat paperwork at all. Thank you. That means a lot to me. Now let's get going," He cancelled the privacy jutsu and, beckoning for me to follow, we walked out of the office.

We reached the academy and Sarutobi made the arrangements. When he was finished, he beckoned for me to follow. We both walked to the classroom where Iruka teaches. The old Hokage opened the door and we stepped inside. Apparently Umino Iruka had caught Naruto because said blond was tied up in front of the class.

"Hokage-sama, what brings you here today?" asked Iruka when he saw Sarutobi standing in the doorway. The Third walked into the room and whispered something in his ear and after a moment he nodded. He then turned to the class who were staring at Sarutobi and I. "Class, we seem to have a new student to participate for tomorrow's gennin test. I would like you to meet Josh Ryu Kitsune," he said as he introduced me. I looked at the class and spotted most of what would become the Rookie 12. Nara Shikamaru was looking like he had just woken up. He looked at me as I smiled at him. I caught a hint of the word, "Troublesome," before he went back to sleep. Akimichi Chouji was on his right, eating a packet of chips. He returned my smile. Next row down I could see Hyuga Hinata. Man she really was cute. As I smiled at her she looked down, blushing a bit. Up on the top row I spotted Inuzuka Kiba and Aburame Shino. Kiba was talking to Akamaru and then looking at me, then talking to each other. Shino was just looking at me impassively.

To the window side I saw that teme, Uchiha Sasuke. What a perfect example of emo. He was looking at me as if to say, "He wouldn't last two seconds against me but he might have secrets I can use to beat _him_." Typical Sasuke but this time I can help change him. In front of the brooder was everyone's favourite pink haired girl, Haruno Sakura. If I could predict her thoughts, she would be thinking that I'm no match for Sasuke-kun like in the anime. Sitting next to Shikamaru was Yamanaka Ino. She wasn't as bad as Sakura and was definitely stronger that pinkie but she could use some more work. And finally there was Uzumaki Naruto, the boy who wanted to become Hokage. Currently he was looking at me. I could sense what was coming.

"Hey there! My names Uzumaki Naruto and I'm gonna be Hokage!" he said strongly. I decided to play along for a bit. "Oh! Well it's a pleasure to meet you, Future Hokage of Konoha," I said with sincere respect as I bowed my head slightly. Suddenly I felt everyone looking at me. Naruto on the other hand gave me his foxy grin. The resident banshee decided to speak up.

"There's no way in hell he'll become Hokage!" she yelled at the both of us, mostly to Naruto than me. His eyes took up a pained expression as his crush yelled at him again. I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to see Sarutobi beside me. "I have to go now. Paperwork, you understand." I smiled at him. With that he walked out of the room but his voice could be heard loudly. "I got you now you evil bastards!"

I laughed softly. Iruka joined in, but soon settled back into being a teacher. "Okay class, because a certain someone missed today's lesson, you shall now review the Henge no Jutsu. I'll call out your name and one by one you shall come down and transform into an image of me. Okay, first up is Haruno Sakura."

Sakura walked to the front of the class. She pauses briefly to look and blush at Sasuke sitting by the nearby window. When she got to the front of the class she quickly shouted to the boy "Watch this Sasuke-kun" before putting her hands into a seal and calling out "Henge no jutsu!" There is a poof of smoke and in her place is a perfect copy of Iruka. Another poof of smoke and a jumping Sakura is seen. "Did you see Sasuke? Did you?" she cries before running back to her seat. Sasuke just looks aside, ignoring everything.

"Uchiha Sasuke," sounded Iruka's voice.

The boy in question stood up and slowly walked to the front of the class, his body language screaming 'This isn't worth my time'. With little or no effort whatsoever he made the seal and drawled "Henge no Jutsu", and a poof of smoke later revealed another perfect Iruka copy. The second poof of smoke showed the boy with his hands in his pockets, clearly not bothered at all by the task. And so the names were called out one by one, each student coming to the front of the class and performing a perfect transformation.

"Horyu Neo," Seems like it was now my turn. I walked up the front where I was sitting next to Naruto. I had decided to talk to him after school. I put my hands into the right seal and said "Henge no Jutsu," and a poof of smoke later revealed myself as a perfect Iruka copy. I poofed back and started walking back to my seat when Iruka stopped me. "Neo, since you are new here, could you tell me a bit about your skills?" I nodded and whispered into his ear. "I know the Henge, Replacement, Kage Bushin, Flame Shunshin and my three secret techniques, The Kamehameha Wave, Kaioken and the Phoenix Wings." Iruka at first looked stunned that I knew Kage Bushin but frowned in confusion at the last three that I said. I knew that he knew what the Shunshin was but was probably taken back that it was a flame one. _'And I'm sure that no-one knows the Kamehameha Wave, Kaioken or Phoenix Wings.'_ I thought. I then walked back to sitting next to Naruto.

"Uzumaki Naruto" said Iruka.

Naruto huffed in irritation and walked to the front of the class. A smile flicked across his face. I knew what was coming. He gathered his chakra and formed the seals. Like the others, there is a poof of smoke and sound, but unlike the others, this transformation revealed a buxom naked blonde girl blowing a kiss in a revealing position. Iruka's eyes bugged and he shot back as his nostrils fired out a large fountain of blood, flying in a comical fashion in the direction of his desk. Naruto laughed as he released the jutsu "Hahahahahaha, I call that one my Oiroke no jutsu. Pretty cool huh?" Iruka quickly recovered from his massive nosebleed and used his special 'Demon Head' to yell at Naruto. "You Dumbass, don't invent stupid skills!" roared the teacher. The force of Iruka's yell blew Naruto's hair back and the whole thing would have been very impressive if it hadn't been for the two pieces of twisted tissue Iruka had jammed up his nose to prevent his fainting from blood loss.

At the end of the day I went in search of Ichiraku's Ramen, knowing that Naruto and Iruka would show up there later. After a few hours I found it on the main street. By this time it was early evening and I decided to grab something to eat while I was waiting. I ducked under the cloth flaps and spotted Ayame at the front of the bar. _Teuchi was probably cooking in the back. 'The smell of ramen is so good,' _I thought.

"Welcome to Ichiraku's Ramen Stand!" Ayame said brightly as I took a seat. I smiled at her. "Ah so this is the infamous Ichiraku's eh?" Ayame smiled and said, "I didn't think we were infamous," She turned to the back. "Did you dad?" she called. Teuchi's head pocked over the short wall. "No, I didn't know either. So what will it be?" he asked me. "Two large bowls of chicken ramen please," I replied. Teuchi nodded and went to work.

"So, you're new in town?" asked Ayame. I nodded. "Just got in today. I'm at the Ninja Academy." She nodded back. "By the way, Naruto will be coming here soon. You better get ready," Her brown eyes widened slightly and she nodded while smiling knowingly.

As I sat eating my ramen I talked to Ayame. There were no customers besides myself so she was free to converse with me. We manly talked about Naruto. It wasn't long before Naruto and Iruka walked into the stand. "Hi Naruto!" I said happily. Naruto looked at me and smiled widely. "Hey there….Neo, right?" he said. I gave him the thumbs up. "I was just enjoying some ramen. I guess you're here for some too?" Naruto flashed me a foxy grin and said "I like you! People who like ramen can't be bad." I laughed. "Thank you. I like you too. Want to be friends?" I asked. The blond boy nodded. Naruto and Iruka sat down next to me and Naruto ordered a large bowl of miso pork ramen as he took off his green goggles and placed them on the counter. Iruka ordered a bowl of beef ramen.

"Naruto, why did you vandalize such a place? You know what the Hokages are, right?" asked Iruka after finishing his mouthful of ramen. Naruto looked up at him, slurping up a large quantity of noodles into his mouth and finishing them with a large gulp.

"Of course I do. In other words, those who carried the name of Hokage were the number one ninjas in the village, right? And I hear the Fourth one is a hero who protected the village from a monster fox."

"Then why did you…?"

"Because I'm going to surpass them all. Someday I'm gonna be Hokage, the greatest Hokage this village has ever seen. Then I'm going to make everyone in the Village recognize my powers." Iruka paused from his meal and looked at his student, a puzzled expression on his face with a noddle sticking out of his mouth, then smiled.

Naruto turned to me and said, "You believe me, right? In class, you called me Future Hokage. Did you really mean it?" I put down my bowl and turned to him. "Yes, I do. I'm very good at reading people's natures just by looking at them. When I look at you, I sense that you are fiercely loyal. That you support your friends. And that you try your best at everything you do." Naruto gave me this huge grin, so big that he had to close his eyes. Then he turned to Iruka.

"By the way Sensei, I have a favour to ask." Iruka looked at the blond, then at his empty bowl. "You want another bowl?" he asked. Naruto shook his head then clapped his hands together "Could I borrow your leaf headband, just to try it on please pretty please"

"Oh this thing…" Iruka brought his hand to his headband "…sorry, but this is proof that you have graduated school and that you're a real ninja. You'll get yours tomorrow."

Naruto pouted. "Stingy!" Iruka laughed and said, "Is that why you took your goggles off?"

"I want another bowl!" yelled Naruto. I laughed as Iruka opened his wallet and sighed in defeat. "Don't worry Iruka, I'll rescue you." I turned to Naruto. "In celebration of our new friendship, I'll pay for Naruto's next 5 bowls!" I declared. Naruto whooped for joy as Iruka and I laughed at his antics.

"By the way," said Iruka as he focused on me, "I've never seen white hair on someone so young, and you seem so mature for your age." I smiled warmly at him. "Thanks, Iruka-sensei." "Also, what are the three last jutsus you told me in class?" he asked. Naruto also listened in.

"Normal shunshin is done with leaves right?" Iruka nodded in acknowledgement. "Well mine is with flames instead." Iruka nodded in understanding. "I guess you have fire element manipulation then." Iruka confirmed. I nodded.

"Iruka-sensei, what does shunshin mean?" asked Naruto. Iruka automatically moved into his lecture mode. "The technique, Shunshin, is a teleportation jutsu. It allows you to move short distances almost instantaneously. Normally Shunshin looks like a puff of white smoke as you disappear. Leaf ninja prefer a whirlwind of leaves spiralling round themselves for a second before dispersing after the jutsu is executed. This tends to be showier. But people who have strong elemental sides can customize their shunshin in their element. Josh, would you demonstrate for us?" Iruka asked. I nodded and focused on the other side of the street and preformed the jutsu. Flames erupted around me, swirling around me before I felt pulled toward the spot I visualised. My feet met firm ground instantly afterwards. I then flame shunshined back to my seat. Iruka looked impressed. Ayame looked at me in awe and Naruto just flung his arms around me screaming, "Can you teach me that jutsu, please, please, please, please, please, please!"

"Calm down Naruto," I said as I pried him off me. "I will eventually okay?" This seemed to pacify him for the moment as he went back to his ramen. Iruka spotted my sword and asked, "That's an interesting sword. Mind if I have a look?" I nodded and unstrapped the sword and slowly pulled it out. Iruka looked in open mouthed wonder as the sword came out. I only pulled it out half way before sliding it back into its white sheath and strapping it back to my waist. "That has got to be the most unique sword I have ever seen. You should show it to one of my previous students. I would know she would like to study the sword," he said. _'Probably Tenten since she's the weapon mistress ,'_ I thought.

Iruka stood up. "Well it's getting late. I'll see you two tomorrow for the test ok?" I nodded and Naruto turned in his seat. "Bye Iruka-sensei!" he called before returning to his ramen again. Deciding that it was time for me to find a hotel I paid for Naruto's ramen, leaving a generous tip before saying goodbye to Naruto.


	2. Graduation and Proof of a Friend

**Will of Fire: My New Life**

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except my OC

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**Chapter 2: Graduation and Proof of a Friend**

I woke up and opened my eyes, hoping that yesterday was not a dream. I gazed at the unfamiliar ceiling, eventually sitting up to look at my surroundings. I was lying on a bed that was too soft for my own bed. A TV stood at the end of my bed, but it was not my TV. There was a bookcase in the corner but none of my books or my pictures was resting inside the shelves.

I decided that my dream was real. Just then the alarm clock rang, signalling that it was now 7:30. The genin test would start at 9 so I decided to explore the town. After cleaning up I walked downstairs and out the door. Traders were opening up their stalls. I decided to find the weapons store where Tenten's father was at. I asked around and after 10 minutes of being directed I found myself standing outside the shop.

Entering the shop I heard the sound of bells ringing from a top of the door way. A big gruff looking man emerged from back of the room and appeared behind the counter. He had an outfit of a black smith, he was big and pretty buff. There seems to be some sort of dirt or smudge on top of his bald head, a little dust on his beard and moustache. His brown eyes stared at him for a moment before his lips turned upwards into a smile. "Welcome to Higarushi's Weapon's Store kid, how can I help you?"

"Just looking around sir,"

He waved his hands in the air in a welcoming gesture as I began looking around. There were so many unusual weapons but I just needed get some kunai and shuriken. I walked into the isle that held the basic ninja weapons. There were so many types which I secretly scanned them with my replicator. Different metals, different styles. Some were even in different colours. I decided to get Naruto a present and so I picked up two sets of high quality kunai and shuriken. I also picked up a black Ninja pouch for myself. Looking in the scrolls section I found some black, empty summoning scrolls. Grabbing four and a bottle of ink and brush I walked back to the counter I placed the items in front of the big man.

"That's two sets of high grade standard Kunai, two sets of high grade standard Shuriken, four ANBU grade, reusable summoning scrolls and standard ink and brush. That all comes to 8250 ryo," he said as I dug out my wallet. While I was counting out the money he asked, "Are you a ninja academy student?" I nodded. "I'm just here for the gennin exams." I decided not to show him my sword as he would probably ask questions I wouldn't know the answers to. I finished counting the money and handed the wad of cash to the man. "There you go sir,"

"Call me Tenchu," he said while giving me a grin.

"Ok, Tenchu-san," I replied as I exited the store. Walking over to a bench I spread out my items and started organising them. First I opened my black ninja pouch and placed my set of kunai and shuriken inside. Then I opened one of the blank scrolls and, using the ink and brush, I reinforced the weapons and drew a summoning seal to seal Naruto's kunai and shuriken set inside it. I then wound up the used scroll and placed it and the writing utensils in my new pouch. Strapping the pouch to my side I opened my white trench coat and noticed a few places to put my unused scrolls. After all was done I looked at the clock on my iPod and saw it said 8:30. I started to run, hoping I would not be late.

At 8:45 I walked into the class. The Academy had been closer than I thought. Looking around I saw the entire rookie 9. I decided to sit next to Hinata.

"Hey Hinata, remember me?" I asked. She seemed not able to talk so she just nodded. I smiled at her. "Don't worry Hinata. You'll pass!" I said having complete confidents in her. She just blushed harder and turned away. Having nothing else to do I brought out my iPod and started listening to hip hop music. I started tapping my foot on the floor as the bass burst out of my ear-hug-phones. Slowly Hinata became aware of the music and looked at me questioningly. I took of my right one and fixed it round her own right ear.

She closed her eyes as she listened to the music flowing out of the speaker and into her ear. It seemed that she enjoyed the song. Her head started nodding slightly to the beat. She was so taken with the music that she didn't know that we had drawn a crowd. Ino and Sakura were looking entranced at the scene. Kiba was throwing dirty looks at me.

The song then ended and she opened her eyes only to notice everyone looking at us. She jerked away, the ear-hug-phone falling off her ear and clattered on the floor. I smiled and returned the ear-hug-phone to my ear but not before I heard "T-that was a-an n-nice song, thank y-you," from the midnight blue haired, shy girl. I was about to say thanks when Iruka walked in.

"QUIET!" he shouted over all the talking that had started up over Hinata and I. The class immediately quieted down, and Iruka took a deep breath, before continuing. "Today is this year's annual genin exam." He looked around at the class to gauge everyone's reactions. I looked around too. They all appeared collected; a few seemed to be a little nervous. Uchiha Sasuke fixed him with a bored face.

"I expect all of you to do well. For many of you, this is your first time taking the exam. For those of you who are taking it for a second time, I hope the extra practice has prepared you sufficiently." He glanced at Naruto, which unfortunately many of the class seemed to catch. He gave Naruto an apologetic look, as some in the class snickered.

"The exam will consist of a short written exam, which I'm sure many of you have prepared for. However, this will only count for 1/6 of the test. The majority of the test will be outside, when it comes to shuriken and kunai targeting counting for 1/6 each, as well as ninjutsu test in bushin, kawarimi, and henge each counting for 1/6 themselves. You will need at least 4/6, or 66 in order to pass the exam.

"This test is to make sure that you have the minimum proficiency in academy level skills. An ideal ninja would be able to get 100 percent on tests, showing proficiency in all areas. However, that is a little much to expect of a genin fresh out of the academy, so we are more forgiving. All genin who pass this exam however are expected to practice the skills they did poorly in until they have complete mastery over the skill," he continued.

I looked at Iruka as the Chunnin instructor walked to the door of the classroom to answer a knock. "Today Mizuki-sensei will be helping me proctor the test to make sure none of you are cheating, and to make sure everything goes by quickly and smoothly." announced Iruka.

_'That traitor!'_ I thought darkly. He had shoulder length silver hair, and had a ready smile for most of the class. He waved to them and gave them a simple "good luck everyone. Hopefully by tomorrow you will all be genin."

With that, Iruka and Mizuki divided up the tests and began to hand them out to the class. There were three different versions of the test, each person on a table had a different version to prevent cheating. I got version C. It seems that Hinata had version B.

"You have exactly 45 minutes to finish this test." announced Iruka, looking at his watch. "Mizuki and I will be walking amongst you to make sure nobody is cheating."

I ducked my head and looked at the questions. They were fairly simple, if the first three of them were any measurement.

#1. State ninja rule number 25, and explain it's importance to today's ninja's in the field.

#2. Explain what chakra is.

#3. Explain what a Hokage is, and what important role this person fulfills in the Fire Country.

#4. State the names of the first and the second Hokage.

_'Easy,'_ I thought as I started writing. When I had finished the 20th question I still had 10 minutes to spare. As I flipped my test sheet over I decided to look around to see how everyone else was doing. Shikamaru was sleeping on his desk, the pencil beside him. Chouji was filling out the questions pretty easily it seemed, taking his time with each one and eating a bag of potato chips in between questions.

Shino and Hinata were already done, and Kiba was smirking as he wrote his answers down. Sakura and Ino and Sasuke were all already finished as well. Someone was blocking my view of Naruto. I knew though that the ninjutsu would crush a lot of hopefuls, as would the targeting test.

After the test we all walked outside to complete the targeting in the training grounds. We lined up and were all told to have 5 shuriken and 5 kunai ready. We each stepped up in turn and tried to hit the 5 bullseyes on the targets for each of the weapons.

Naruto glared at Sasuke when he threw all five of each at the same time, 5 kunai with one hand and 5 shuriken with the other, and nailed all of the targets.

"Sasuke-kun is so cool!" squealed one of his fangirls.

It was now my turn. I opened my pouch and some people gasped softly at the high spec tools I was using. I decided to be careful and focused. I took aim and launched my kunai, then my shuriken. Nine out of ten hit the target dead on. I heard someone clapping and I turned to see that it was Naruto who was clapping. I rubbed the back of my head in embarrassment as I walked out of the way.

Naruto then stepped up. Knowing that Mizuki would try something I focused my attention on him and saw that he was using chakra strings on the targets so I quickly cut them without him noticing it. Naruto took a deep breath and threw his kunai first, quickly but carefully. He nodded as he saw them travel to exactly where he aimed them. Surprisingly Naruto managed to get 7 out of ten which was good and Iruka smiled at that. All the class got quiet and I gave Naruto a good thumbs up while Mizuki was confused on how the targets didn't move.

The class all shouted at Naruto, and jeers of "Dobe!" and "dead-last he cheated!" were shouted from the students. Naruto hung his head down too sad to look at his classmates. That's where I snapped.

"Are you all so weak that you have to jeer and put people down just to make yourself feel better!? If that is the case then you don't deserve to be leaf ninja!" I said angrily. That shut everyone up. Naruto looked at me and smiled before going off to the side.

When the class calmed down, we were all told to line up in the hallway outside the regular classroom while each student stepped inside to complete testing. As my name was called, I took a step inside to see Iruka and Mizuki sitting and smiling at me.

"Okay Neo, I'm going to need you to perform a Henge to look like me, a Kawarimi, as well as 2 bunshin." said Iruka.

I nodded and performed the Henge. Iruka nodded and marked something down on his clipboard. After the kawarimi, it was the same thing. And then I performed the regular bushin and made five clones for added effect. Iruka smiled and said, "Well Josh, you passed."

"Thanks, Iruka-sensei," I said, thanking him as I walked up to claim my hitai-ate. I chose a black one with long straps, like Naruto's in the second series. As I was tying the forehead protector around my head Iruka said, "Thank you for what you did for Naruto," I finished up and smiled at him. "That's what friends are for."

As I exited out of the classroom Naruto and Hinata looked up to see me wearing my new accessory. Naruto smiled at me and said, "Cool Neo! It looks great on you!" I smiled back and said "Thanks. I wish you luck," Even though I knew he wouldn't pass because of Mizuki tampering I still wished him luck. As Hinata's name was called I walked up to her and whispered in her ear, "Good luck," She walked into the room with a blush on her face.

Now I needed to find that shack where Mizuki would tell Naruto to take the forbidden scroll. I rushed out of the building and past the group of parents waiting for their children to come out. I then figured that it would be better to follow Naruto instead. So when I was out of sight I henged into a small, black fox and, making sure I wasn't seen, I made my way back to the Academy.

I arrived as Naruto was coming out, down trodden and sad. He sat on the swing, watching the others. I grew pissed at some of the whispers I heard from the older crowd, about how they were _glad _he failed. _'Stupid villagers, they don't know the difference between the seal and the kyuubi is .'_ I thought darkly. This was how Mizuki found Naruto, on the swing, his legs barely touching the ground beneath him.

The older man put his hand on Naruto's shoulder, and when the boy luck up behind him at the smiling Chuunin, Mizuki put his plan into action.

"You know Naruto, Iruka only made that decision because he wants you to grow into a strong ninja for the leaf. You shouldn't let it discourage you."

The boy nodded glumly for a moment before turning away to think things over. But Mizuki wasn't done yet.

"Wait, Naruto. You can prove to Iruka that you're ready to become a genin now if you are determined enough."

This stopped the boy in his tracks, and he excitedly turned around towards Mizuki. "How, Mizuki-sensei?"

I scowled as I could just picture Mizuki's hidden smile. "There is a second, less common way to become a genin. It was what the villages used to do in the days before academies. All you have to do is prove your skills in the field. To do this, there is a scroll in the Hokage's tower that is kept there in a special room, guarded by genjutsu and traps. In the old days, it was traditional for the aspiring ninja to take this scroll out of the tower and learn at least one skill from the scroll, and deliver it to the Chuunin testing him without the Hokage, or other ninja's in the village stopping him." He continued.

"So I need to take a scroll from the Hokage tower and learn something from it? I can do that. I'll go get it now!" declared Naruto, about to hurry off to the tower.

Mizuki quickly pulled the boy back. "Not yet!" he snarled. Realizing he may have come on a bit strongly, he calmed himself down. "A few tips for you: Do it tonight when less people are around. then when you get this scroll, which will be on the third floor of the Hokage tower at the far end of the hall, you'll head northwards into the forest behind the Hokage monuments. You'll find an old shack in a clearing about 5 minutes in. I'll be waiting there for you." He winked and walked away from the boy.

'Now that I know where that shack is, I'll set up camp there and wait for Naruto. There's a possibility that Iruka won't find him in time so I need to protect Naruto. Also this might be the chance I need to help him become stronger' I thought as I sped off in the direction of the Hokage Tower.

As the traitor said, the shack was about 5 minutes in. There was heavy brush on either side of the clearing so I hid in the bushes and started waiting. Knowing that I had roughly a few hours until Naruto arrived I settled into a comfortable position and listened to music. I turned the volume right down so I would be alerted to any action.

2 ½ hours later

I sensed someone running towards the shack. I stopped the music and peeked out of the bushes. It seemed that Naruto had found the spot. Strapped to his back was the Forbidden Ninjutsu Scroll of Konoha, otherwise known as the 'Scroll of Sealing'. He plopped down next to a large tree and unfurled the big scroll.

"Let's see, the first jutsu is… Kage Bushin…. Man!? The only technique I'm no good at?" he yelled in frustration before having a closer look. "But it says _Kage_ bushin…maybe this is different." I laid on my back. It would be another hour before he learnt the technique.

1 hour later

Naruto was panting from exhaustion . _'Learning the technique went well for him,now he just need to know the secret behind it'_ I thought as I felt another presence arrive. I peeked out again and saw Iruka jump into the clearing. Naruto was too tired to notice the chuunin teacher walk up to the blond.

"Hey, Naruto," said Iruka with an evil glint in his eyes as well as a twitch. Naruto looked around and rubbed the back of his head and laughed softly. Iruka lost the evil look in his eyes and adopted a confused look as Naruto stood up, the scroll once again strapped to his back.

"Oh man, I got caught. I only managed to learn one technique," said Naruto. Iruka looked surprised at his worn-out student.

"Now I'll show you a great technique and you'll graduate me if I can do it! If I show you a jutsu from this scroll, I can graduate, right?"

Iruka was stunned. "Who said that?"

"Mizuki-sensei. He told me about this place and this scroll…" Naruto trailed off as he saw the look of horror on his teacher's face. _'It's just about Showtime,'_ I thought as I felt that asshole arrive.

A barrage of kunai whipped through the clearing as Iruka pushed Naruto out of the way. The kunai, although not very accurate, stabbed into Iruka with such force that the teacher was forced back until he hit the wall of the hut. The damage was light at worst. Only one was stuck in his leg.

"I'm surprised you found out about this place," said Mizuki as he revealed himself. "I see, so that's how it is," grunted out Iruka.

"Naruto, hand over the scroll," the traitor said. Naruto, his eyes wide, looked between Mizuki and Iruka. "Hey…What's going on here?"

Iruka ripped out the kunai in his leg and threw it away. Without taking his eyes of Mizuki he said, "Naruto, don't let him get the scroll no matter what. That's a dangerous scroll that has Forbidden jutsus. Mizuki used you so that he could get a hold of it!"

Naruto turned to Mizuki, glaring at him. Mizuki just looked at Naruto. _'Now he plays the Kyuubi card,'_ I thought as I started to get ready.

"Naruto, Iruka is afraid of you possessing that," grinned Mizuki. "What?" whispered Naruto in shock as he turned to look at Iruka. Still not taking his eyes off Mizuki, Iruka snarled. "What are you saying Mizuki?! Don't believe him Naruto!" Mizuki just smiled as he continued. "I'll tell you the truth." Iruka, realising the direction that this was going, yelled at the traitor. "Don't!"

"A law was passed after the incident that occurred 12 years ago."

Naruto looked confused. "A law?" he asked.

Mizuki's smirk grew wider. "It's a law that only you, Naruto, cannot find out about."

Naruto was again shocked. "Only me? What's the law?" "Stop, Mizuki!" Iruka yelled in a vain attempt to shut him up.

_'Here we go,'_ I thought.

"It's a law not to say that Naruto is a Demon Fox!" said Mizuki triumphantly.

"What?" Naruto's eyes widened.

"In other words, you are the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox who killed Iruka's parents and destroyed our village."

"Stop!" screamed Iruka.

"You've been deceived by the village people all this time. Didn't you think it was weird for everyone to hate you so much?"

"Damn it…" choked out Naruto. Unconsciously he began summoning up huge amounts of chakra that was visible to the eye. "Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!" he cried out as the chakra flared round him.

"No-one's ever going to recognize you! Even Iruka hates you!" Mizuki unstrapped one of the huge shuriken and started spinning the weapon, aiming for Naruto. "Die, Kyuubi!" yelled Mizuki as he launched the shuriken. Seeing that Iruka was too far I jumped out of the bushes and landed in front of Naruto. "Take cover Naruto," I yelled as I unsheathed the Sigma blade and sliced the shuriken in half. The two pieces spun out of control, crashing into the trees.

I turned to look at Naruto and smiled at him. "You alright?" I asked softly.

Naruto only looked at me in confusion. "W-Why…?" he said.

"Because, I'm your friend, and I know you are no monster," I said simply. These words seamed to shake him to the core. "It's the same with Iruka. He doesn't hate you," I added. Naruto looked at Iruka to see him smiling kindly.

"Naruto," I said, bringing his attention back to me. "I need you to take the scroll away from here and hide. I'll find you after I deal with this traitor." Naruto nodded and he belted out of the clearing.

"Crap!" muttered Mizuki before taking off after him. "Oh no you don't!" I yelled and was just about to follow but I turned around. "Let's go, Iruka," I said to the scared teacher. He nodded as he henged into Naruto.

I watched Iruka as backup from the treetops and eventually I saw Mizuki behind him, henged into Iruka.

"Naruto!" said 'Iruka', "What Mizuki said back there was all a lie! Hand over the scroll to me! Mizuki is after it!" 'Naruto' propelled himself off a tree branch and slammed into 'Iruka', knocking the wind out of him. 'Iruka' flew to the ground as 'Naruto' expertly skidded to a stop.

"W-What…?" 'Iruka' gasped as 'Naruto' backed up againsed a tree and slid down it. "How… Naruto." 'Iruka' turned around, his teeth gritted in anger. "How," he continued as he was enveloped in smoke, revealing Mizuki. "… did you know that I'm not Iruka?"

'Naruto' just smirked as he poofed into Iruka. "Because _I'm _Iruka,"

Mizuki stood up, smirking as well. "I see." I spotted Naruto hiding behind a tree. I decided to let him deal out the punishment so I stayed out of this. But I continued to watch.

"What good is there in protecting the one who killed your parents?" asked Mizuki.

"I'm not going to let an idiot like you get that scroll," Iruka countered.

"You're the idiot. Naruto is the same as me. Anything is possible with that scroll. There's no way that Naruto, the Demon Fox, won't use its powers," explained Mizuki.

"Yeah, your right," agreed Iruka. I glanced at Naruto. He had buried his head into the scroll as sadness overtook him. But the next words shook that off.

"_If _he was a monster fox. But Naruto is different. He's… He's an excellent student that I recognize. He's a hardworking, earnest, clumsy, and no-one recognizes his worth. He knows the pain of others. He's not a monster fox. He's Uzumaki Naruto of Konoha!" Iruka finished. Naruto was in tears. He was blubbering so much it was a wonder to me that the others couldn't hear. Mizuki just stood there with a violent twitch above his left eye.

"Iruka, I was going to kill you later but I changed my mind. Die now!" yelled Mizuki as he started spinning his last giant shuriken. He then lunged at Iruka. In the blink of an eye, Naruto slid under the shuriken and upped kicked the traitor sending him flying as the shuriken shot into the forest.

"Damn you…" wheezed Mizuki as he stood up.

"Don't lay a finger on Iruka-sensei…" said Naruto darkly. "… or I'll kill you!"

"Talk while you can. I'll finish a kid like you in a flash," Smirked Mizuki.

_'You've sealed your fate,'_ I thought as I saw Naruto make the familiar cross-shaped hand seal. "Try, jerk. I'll do a thousand times more damage back to you."

"Why don't you try it _if you can_, you demon!" taunted Mizuki.

"Kage Bushin no Jutsu!" Naruto's voice rang throughout the forest. The whole area was filled with white smoke. When it cleared, the whole clearing was filled to bursting with Shadow Clones.

"What…?" spluttered Mizuki as I jumped over and landed next to Iruka. "You are about to witness a legend in the making," I said softly to the opened mouthed chuunin.

"What's the matter?" one clone yelled. "Come and get me!" called another. Mizuki was so scared shitless that he fell backwards. "If you're not coming… We're coming!" called out all the clones. Mizuki could only scream as the clones belted him to a pulp. By the end, the traitor's face was nothing but a mass of bruises.

"Nice beating Naruto! That was kick ass!" I called in his direction. He turned around as he scratched the back of his head. "Heh, heh. Maybe that was a bit overkill. Are you alright? Iruka-sensei,"

"He'll be fine Naruto," I said. Iruka smiled. "Naruto, come here for a second. I want to give you something."

Naruto walked over to us and knelt down. "Close your eyes." Naruto did so. Iruka with great precision, removed Naruto's goggles and tied his own Hitai-ate round the blonde's head. "Sensei, are you done yet?" Naruto asked as he tried to peek. "All right, open your eyes."

Naruto blinked as his eyes adjusted to the darkness. He then stared at Iruka holding his goggles, headbandless. His eyes widened.

"Congratulations. You graduate," said Iruka softly. "All right, let's celebrate. I'll treat you both to ramen!" Naruto still hadn't said anything so Iruka opened his eyes to see what was wrong. In that instant he was dog piled by Naruto. "Iruka-sensei!" cried out Naruto in happiness. "Ouch! That hurts!" cried out Iruka in pain. Naruto backed away from him. "Opps," he said.

"Naruto. I have something for you too." I said as I reached into my pouch and retrieved the scroll that had Naruto's present in. I spread it out on the grass and channelled my chakra into the scroll. A puff of smoke later showed him his new kunai and shuriken set. He looked at me for a second before glomping me.

"Thank you Neo!" he said as he hugged me. I patted his head. "You're welcome" I then got up and walked into the clearing. "I'll just signal where we are," I said over my shoulder as I set my hands in front of me, as if I was holding a ball. I then started focusing the energy needed. The others looked on, wondering at what I was doing.

"Kaaaa…Meeee…" I said as a ball of blue light appeared between my hands. A charging sound rang through the forest.

"Haaaa… Meeee…" I brought my hands beside me as the ball of light got bigger. The charging sound reached a peak.

"HAAAAAA!" I yelled as I shot the ball of light vertically into the air. A beam of blue light shot through the air, smashing through the clouds creating a huge hole in the clouds. Moonlight shone through the hole to light up the clearing. The beam of light dissipated and I walked back to Naruto and Iruka who looked at me with open eyes and mouths.

"That, is the Kamehameha Wave."

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**Well here it is! Hope hope you like it. Please review!**


	3. No Shortcuts on the Hokage Road

**Will of Fire: My New Life**

**i,ve been thinking since I played the Vindictus online game that i should include a new main boss enemy for Neo that will only appear in each major naruto events. **

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except my OC

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**Chapter 3: No Shortcuts on the Hokage Road**

Iruka and Naruto asked me constant questions about the jutsu I just used as we were escorted back to the village. After explaining to the ANBU who found us that it was me that fired off the technique, I proceeded to tell Naruto and Iruka the properties of my special attack. "The energy wasn't chakra because chakra uncontained would just dissipate after leaving the body," said Iruka.

"That's right Iruka Because this move is done with pure physical energy. Chakra is a 50/50 mix of physical and spiritual energy. And there is mental energy as well as spiritual energy by itself. But I'm getting off track. Physical energy can also be used for intimidation purposes. Because physical energy doesn't dissipate for a while, you can flare it around yourself and the energy would be quite visible while you wouldn't be out of breath. Imagine the fear as your opponent sees the energy radiating off you without you breaking a sweat," I explained. Iruka nodded as the info slotted into place in his brain. "and, just like chakra, you can use this to speed up, deal more damage, or even fly." I added.

"You can fly?! Really?!" asked Naruto. I shook my head. "I haven't learned that far ahead," Naruto looked a little downcast but brightened up when he fiddled with his new shiny tools. "By the way Naruto good job on learning the kage bunshin since it will help you with training" I explained the secret behind the jutsu and he got happy that it will help him become stronger. However I warned him about the side effects and told him that he should dispel each clone one at a time and wait for a few seconds in order to get used to the information which Iruka agreed with me.

We were silent as we made our way to Ichiraku's, Iruka splitting off as he needed to go to the hospital. He said that he would meet up with us later and also told us that we needed to get our pictures taken for the register. We were silent as we both dug into our meals until Naruto looked at me.

"You don't hate me for being….you know," he hesitantly asked. I finished with my mouthful and looked at him. "Of course not. Those villagers are blind idiots if they cannot see what I can see. And all I see is a kid who just wants to be recognized. In a good way. Without pulling pranks." Naruto nodded. "I'm glad that you are my friend," he said with a big smile. I smiled back. "I'm glad that you are too."

After the food was consumed we trouped off to the Hokage Tower to have our photo taken. I managed to persuade Naruto to go without the face paint on as it would make people not take him seriously. Naruto had his photo taken first, but when it was my turn I flared my physical energy before the shot was taken. The result was a very badass looking me. We then walked to the academy where the Hokage was taking in the registrations. We both entered the room and saw the old man at the front of the room. We both handed our documents to the aged leader.

At first he was surprised. "I'm impressed Naruto, I thought you would try to act all macho for your picture," Naruto mumbled something about 'first friends' and 'not allowed' but Sarutobi got the message. He winked at me before looking at mine. His pipe promptly dropped out of his mouth and clattered on the floor. It took a few moments for him to calm down. "Wow, Neo. You sure know how to intimidate someone," I smiled at the old Hokage. "Why thank you Sarutobi. I think I did a fine job myself, so did you train hard"

The Hokage nodded with a smile "Why yes Neo, thanks to your advice I had a lot of free time in order for me to get back into shape."

"By the way Naruto, where is your Hitai-ate?" Sarutobi asked as Naruto had switched it with his goggles at lunch.

"I'm not going to wear it until the explanatory meeting, since it will get scratched," explained Naruto.

Sarutobi straightened up as he cleared his throat a little. "Naruto, perhaps we should discuss-"

The Hokage stopped mid sentence as we all turned our sight to the door of the room a split second before it yanked open. A small dark haired boy with a strange headcap and a blue scarf that was about three feet too long jumped forward with a single shuriken in his hand.

"Jiji! I challenge you!" The boy called out as he started to run forward, only to suddenly fall flat on his face with a startled yelp. He began to roll back and forth, holding his face. "Ow, ow, ow, ow!"

_'Oh joy, it's the runt,'_ I thought as I had completely forgotten about him. I allowed a small smirk to grace my face. Naruto was just staring in complete confusion, as a dark plain clothed man with sunglasses appeared in the doorway, looking slightly winded.

"Dang it! Did some kind of trap trip me?" The boy whined as he sat up, still holding his head.

"AH! Are you alright Honoured Grandson!?" The glasses man asked in anxiety. "And pardon my observation, but there are no traps here, it's completely flat." He said with a bit more composure as he adjusted his sunglasses.

Naruto was still looking on, with an eye twitching in complete disbelief.

The boy had finally gotten up, and looked around to spot me staring at him, but the glasses man noticed Naruto instead.

"So it's you! You're the one who tripped me, didn't you!?" The boy pointed angrily.

_'Oh great. Now he blames me for it,'_ I thought. "Sorry to disappoint kid, but I'm not _that_ fast," I said, even though I actually could be that fast. The boy then turned on Naruto. "It was you then!" The boy pointed at Naruto.

Naruto instantly got an angry tick mark above his right eye as he grabbed the boys scarf and lifted him off the ground.

"Uzumaki! Take your hands off him RIGHT NOW!" The glasses man shouted. "He is the Honoured Grandson of our great leader Sandaime Hokage-sama!"

Naruto then started looking between Sarutobi and the brat, as if trying to see the relation. He did look a little less aggressive though. The boy, thinking he could get away with it, smirked.

He puffed up his chest as best he could while hanging in mid-air. "Well what's the matter tough guy? I thought you were going to teach me a lesson! _Afraid _because the Sandaime Hokage is my ojiisan?" He mocked.

Naruto got a few extra tick marks on his face. "I DON'T CARE IF HE'S YOU'RE GREAT BAASAMA!" Naruto whirled the boy around in mid air, as his hand came down to the boys belt. Or to be more accurate, the boy's underwear. A vicious yank upward produced a high-pitched squeak from the boy, but Naruto had pulled a bit too hard. There was a rip as the material gave way to the force of momentum, causing the boy to somersault once before coming down to crash headlong into the floor.

I rushed to the boys side. "10… 9… 8… 7… 6… 5… 4… 3… 2… 1… HE'S OUT! DING DING!" I yelled as I walked over to Naruto's side. "AND THE WINNER IS UZUMAKI NARUTO!" I continued to yell as I rased his fist to the air. A couple of puffs later and there appeared my personal Kage Bushin audience clapping and cheering for Naruto.

Sarutobi started chuckling as the glasses man gasped in horrified outrage as he glared at Naruto and I. _'Let him glare, Sarutobi won't let anything happen to us. Man I'm good,'_ I thought. Naruto grinned at me. "All right Naruto, let's go," I said as we walked out of the room.

As we walked down the main street Naruto looked at me. "Where are we going Neo?" he asked. "We are getting you some new clothes and training weights. Now that you are a ninja, you can't wear orange anymore."

"I know, but I can't buy anything else. The shops won't let me," said Naruto as his eyes dropped to the ground.

"Leave that to me Naruto. We are going to get you some ninja clothes," I said as we headed in the direction of a certain weapons store.

-Higarushi's weapons store-

We walked through the door and into the shop. Tenchu looked up and saw us. "Hello there … uh I forgot to ask you what your name was," he said sheepishly. I smacked my own head at my forgetfulness. "I'm sorry. Neo Horyu is my name." Tenchu looked thoughtful. "That's an interesting name." He caught sight of Naruto who had taken to hiding behind me. "And who's your friend?" I turned to Naruto and gently pushed him in front of me. "This is Uzumaki Naruto. He's my friend and classmate. I came here to get some new clothes for him since he can't be a ninja in orange, also can you bring me chakra weights for both of us " Tenchu laughed softly as he gestured to the back of the store. "Well all clothes are in the back next to the weights. So take your time while I bring it to you"

I nodded. "Thanks Tenchu-san," I said as we moved to the back of the store. "Well Naruto, choose your outfit, and don't worry about the price," I said as I stood back to watch. Strangely enough, Naruto went with a black muscle shirt, black cargo pants, black, steal capped combat boots and black leather, fingerless gloves. Exactly what I was wearing, minus the white trench coat. I didn't comment on it, though I did insist that he get two of everything except the boots. I restrained myself from getting several sets of pre-made exploding notes. Tench came with the Chakra weights, Naruto showed his purchases to him and he racked off the total to 26000 ryo.

"Thanks for that Tenchu-san," I thanked.

"You just come back for more supplies ok. And of course your friend, Naruto, can come in here anytime," said the big man and he got two smiles from us as we exited the shop.

As we were walking down the street I just had to ask. "So was there any reason you chose that attire?" Naruto looked at me. "I just wanted to be as cool looking as you," was his answer. I smiled. "Well we might as well get you a trench coat like mine then," I answered as we continued walking down the street. It wasn't long however before I felt Konohamaru behind us.

Eventually we both turned round to see what looked like a brown sheet made to match the ground bunched up in a ball. Two feet poked out from underneath.

_'Oh man,'_ I sighed in my mind. Naruto groaned before turning back around and continued on, me following. We could still feel him behind us. "He's not even in sync with our footsteps," I whispered to Naruto. Naruto just got fed up with this and turned round only to see the kid up against the fence with a camouflage sheet covering 90 of him. Oh and the sheet was the wrong way around. His hands, feet and hair were sticking out the sides.

We both sweat-dropped slightly as Naruto walked over to stand in front of the 'hidden' boy, and deliberately pulled it down.

"So, I'm guessing that there's a reason you're following us?" Naruto asked with a cautious tone.

"Ha ha! So, you saw through my disguise! I see that your reputation is well-earned!" Konohamaru had a ridiculous smile on as he pointed to Naruto. "Alright! I'll be your apprentice, and you'll be my trainer!"

"Wait, what?" Naruto backed up a step. I started laughing hard.

"Yeah! You just gotta teach me how to do that Sexy Jutsu that you're rumoured to use!" Konohamaru hopped up and down in excitement, even as Naruto was trying to wave him off.

"Whoa, hold on, slow down! You've gotta be kidding me!" Naruto choked out.

"Come on, please? I really need a new trainer! Please, please, please won't you say yes Boss?" Konohamaru pleaded franticly.

"What? Boss?" Naruto tilted his head quizzically at the boy, who took it as a sign of interest.

"Yeah! That's right, you're the Boss! Boss, Boss, Boss!" The hyperactive child stamped his feet in determination. I was really trying my hardest not explode from laughing. "We can always get your coat later Naruto," I said while grinning.

Naruto sighed as he scratched the back of his head, looking down at the person in front of him. "Fine! But only because he felt sorry for you," he gave in while pointing at me.

"Oh come on. You just liked him calling you boss Naruto," I countered. He sheepishly looked at me before we all walked away.

"First, to use a ninja technique well, you need to use your Chatora well," said Naruto unaware of the grammatical error he had just made.

"Chatora (Brown Tiger)?" asked Konohamaru.

"Yes, that's right. Chato…" he was cut off as I slapped him upside of the head. "You idiot Naruto," I laughed, "it's Chakra. Not Chatora. _Chakra_,"

Naruto flinched, realising his mistake. "Shut up!" he said in an attempt to cover his tracks, "Good ninjas call it Chatora." I just slapped my head with my hand. _'It's going to be a long day,' _I thought.

"What? So that's how it is," said Konohamaru in excitement. He didn't notice Naruto giving a long sigh.

"Listen, chakra is…" Naruto began but the kid cut in.

"Simply, it is the energy you use to execute a jutsu. In other words, ninjutsus use both body energy which is physical energy, and spirit energy, which accumulates through training and experience. Chakra is the mix of both energies. Afterwards, a seal is formed, and the jutsu is executed." This would have been impressive for a kid his age except that he was reading it all from a scroll. Naruto practically yelled that point in his face before continuing to walk.

"Although that scroll explains the technicalities about it, you just need two things to use a jutsu well," Naruto continued, pretending to be like Iruka.

"Two things?" asked Konohamaru.

"Hard work and guts."

"Hard work and guts, eh?"

"That's right. I'll train you hard, so prepare yourself," said Naruto.

"Osu Boss!"

"Alright then, try the henge jutsu now,"

"What?" asked the kid, clearly confused.

"I'll see how good your ninja jutsus are," explained Naruto.

"But what should I henge into?"

Naruto began looking around before I pointed to the bookstore. A beautiful dark red head in a blue kimono was looking into the shop. "Nice spotting Neo!" said Naruto before looking back at Konohamaru. "Ok, henge into that babe."

"Okay, Henge!" said the kid and he was covered in smoke. Since I knew what was coming I looked away, not wanting to damage my eyes. As such I was spared from an angry beating.

-Local bookstore-

"Okay! We're going to research pheromones at the bookstore!" said Naruto, a very prominent bruise on his head. Already knowing the outcome I just stayed outside while the two boys sneaked in.

-Local Bath House-

"This is the last place." Poor Naruto was now sporting a black eye. He turned to Konohamaru. "Let's put our spirit into it!"

"OSU, BOSS!" yelled the kid. They then both used the henge to transform into girls. Naruto obviously forgot to change his clothes as the two walked into the building. I stayed outside as usual. After a few seconds…

"AHHHHH!"

"Naruto! You again!"

-Nearby Park-

Naruto looked like he had been through hell and back. "Why am I the only one getting pounded…"

Konohamaru looked sad. "Gomen. It's because I'm the grandson of the Hokage,"

"Don't worry about it. The preparation for the temptation no jutsu is now complete," said Naruto happily despite all the bruises.

"Osu, boss,"

"Ok, the basics is big, thin, big. Do it!"

"OSU, BOSS!"

As Naruto was coaching I went in search of drinks. When I later returned Naruto was nodding while Konohamaru was panting on the ground.

"Hey guys! I got juice!" I called. Konohamaru yelled for joy and Naruto held back a bit, but not much. Soon we were all sitting on a log sipping the juice I got.

"By the way, why are you so obsessed with the old man Hokage?" asked Naruto. The kid looked a bit sad. "Ojiisan named me Konohamaru. After the ancient name of the village. He said it would bring me luck." He muttered. "You'd think that it would be easy to remember. But no one, not a single person in the whole village, ever calls me by my name. Because when they look at me, they don't see me. All they see is the Honoured Grandson of Hokage-sama." Konohamaru kicked a stone.

Naruto's brow creased in concern at what he was hearing as he continued. "They don't see who I am, just who I'm related to. It's like I'm invisible, hidden away in Ojiisan's shadow, and I'm so sick of it. That's why... I want to become Hokage now, so people will know who I am!" Konohamaru balled up his fists on his knees in frustration. Naruto was struggling to keep his face neutral. There was a long silence between the three of us.

"Even if you became Hokage today, and even if everyone came to know who you are, tell me, would there be anything for them to respect?" Naruto asked at last.

"Eh, what?" Konohamaru looked up with slight surprise, having been startled from his moodiness.

"What's the point of having a title if you haven't done anything to earn it? All that will do is let everyone know just how much of a nobody you are!" Naruto scoffed.

"WHAT!?" Konohamaru jumped up to glare angrily at the blonde, who gave back a hard stare of his own.

"Why do you think everyone respects your ojiisan so much? It's not because of who he is, or his name, but because of what he's _done_. Because he's worked hard to gain the skill and experience necessary to hold the position of 'greatest ninja in the village'. You'll have to work your way up to get that." Naruto's serious face turned to a devilish smirk. "And of course, if you're going to prove you're the best... you'll have to get past me first before you get anywhere!"

Konohamaru could only blink with stunned silence at the challenge set before him.

I clapped softly. "That was a great speech Naruto but I'm afraid we have a party crasher," I said.

"I've found you!" Called a voice from above.

Up on a tree branch stood a black-dressed man with sunglasses. Naruto flinched under his icy stare.

Ebisu leapt down from the tree and approached the two boys.

"Honoured Grandson, it's time that you should return home." He announced with a confident tone as he adjusted his glasses. Konohamaru jumped up instantly.

"No way! I'm learning how to beat my ojiisan so I can get the title of Hokage! Don't get in my way!" The exceptionally loud boy shouted.

"Sounds like he doesn't want to go with you." Naruto commented

"Silence Uzumaki! I will not have you corrupting my student with your nonsense!" Ebisu snapped.

"Shut up! He's a better teacher than you are!" Konohamaru yelled, causing both Ebisu and Naruto to give a start. "At least I can understand his directions! He doesn't talk like a text book!"

"He's got a point," I put in.

"No, no Honoured Grandson, you must not listen to him. He can not teach you the things you need to know. To be Hokage, one must understand virtue, justice, ceremony, wisdom, loyalty, faithfulness, prudence and be skilled in a thousand jutsus! You don't even know one jutsu!" Ebisu rambled on, but Konohamaru had heard enough.

"Transform!" With a poof of smoke, where there was once a small dark haired boy, now stood a taller, older, nakeder, gorgeous dark haired girl. "How's THIS for a jutsu?" The girl called sweetly while posing.

Ebisu froze as his jaw dropped down, and he gave two full head-to-toe-to-head shivers. But he was still standing.

"Interesting. Did that look like a restrained reaction to you?" I whispered to Naruto as I eyed Ebisu curiously. "I think he needs an extra push. I'm sure you can see what I'm getting at," I finished with an evil glint in my eye that Naruto copied.

"WH-WH-WHAT KIND OF DISGRACEFUL JUTSU WAS THAT!?" Ebisu howled in outrage, despite a slight redness to his cheeks. "Such things are not fit for the eyes of a gentleman! I would never fall for such outrageous vulgarity! I am far above such things!" He declared. Ebisu reached over and grabbed at Konohamaru's scarf, trying to pull the boy away. "Honoured Grandson you must stop this at once! That Uzumaki gaki is turning you into a delinquent! Do you want to be seen as an imbecile!? Only with MY teachings will you gain the fast shortcut to becoming Hokage!" Ebisu pulled on the scarf in his hand. Naruto's eye twitched.

"No, no, no! Just leave me alone! Go away!" Konohamaru fumed as he struggled to pull in the opposite direction.

"**Kage Bushin no Jutsu!"**

The dual shout caused the two feuding individuals to pause and look over in time to see dozens of clones of the both of us come into being spread across the field. Konohamaru's eyes looked like they were about to pop.

"WHHOOOAAA! This is... WOW! Incredible!" He gaped, looking back and forth to all the clones that were glaring at Ebisu.

"You dare to call yourself a sensei?" asked one.

"Though you have no regard for your student's opinions?" said another.

"And now you're lying about training him!?" growled a third.

"THAT'S DESPICABLE!" We all shouted in unison.

Ebisu sneered as he let go of Konohamaru, and walked out into the midst of our clones.

"Ha! I'm not impressed. I'm a Jounin, an elite ninja! I'm not some lightweight paper pusher like Mizuki!" He adjusted his glasses. "Oh yes, I heard all about your little night run! And for someone who was so worthless as to be dumped by your own teacher, you have no right to lecture me! Now, watch closely Honoured Grandson, and see how a real ninja defeats an upstart!" He took an anticipatory pose.

Konohamaru looked back and forth between our clones and Ebisu, before settling on the clone army.

"Come on boss, Nii-san..." He muttered.

Ebisu stood waiting in the middle of his opponents.

"Well? Ready?" He jibed.

"Transform!" The thirty or so clones called out as the field was covered in smoke. As the smoke cleared, Ebisu couldn't believe his eyes.

The field was now filled with thirty or so Konohamaru's.

Ebisu was too stunned to realize that they were all running around erratically, so he didn't notice where the real Konohamaru got lost in the commotion. Suddenly the group of boys came to a halt surrounding the dumbfounded Jounin.

"Well, what are you waiting for Four-Eyes-sensei? I thought you were going to teach Naruto and Neo a lesson!" One of the Konohamaru's shouted.

"But it seems you're getting cold feet!" Shouted another.

"Of course he is! If he mistakenly hits the real me, he's going to be in BIG trouble!" Jeered a third.

Ebisu was in an absolute panic and was sweating bullets. He rapidly scanned all the identical boys around him, desperately looking for any giveaway sign of which was the real Konohamaru. "Um, n-now then... Magomusuko-dono... You should... Um... Oh!" Ebisu suddenly reached into his pocket and pulled out some change. "Why don't you get yourself a drink from the vending machines over there?" He asked hopefully.

"Neo already got me a drink!" All the Konohamaru's chorused.

"You know, he's looking a bit stressed out!" One said.

"Maybe he could think better if he had a drink!" Another added.

"Nah, we just need to take some pressure off him!" Suggested a third.

"Ok then, Transform!" They all shouted as Ebisu was again surrounded with smoke.

This time, as the smoke dissipated, Ebisu found himself confronting a swarm of naked blonde and white haired girls who all began grabbing at him. Whatever they were saying was lost on Ebisu as he choked, shuddered, then was thrown out of their reach by the rocket that was his bloody nose.

As the unresponsive man lay twitching on the ground, a burst of smoke rose and cleared to reveal us smirking alongside an awe-struck Konohamaru.

"And that," Naruto turned to his companion, "Is called the stun-and-strike! Harem no Jutsu" I finished as we slapped each other a high five.

"AWESOME!" Konohamaru cheered.

"Well, at least I think he enjoyed it." I said as I looked at the still twitching form of Ebisu.

"Damn it! I couldn't even defeat glasses-teacher again! I want the title that will make everyone recognize me, so why?!" yelled Konohamaru, clearly still upset about the jutsu not working.

"It's not that easy," replied Naruto. Konohamaru looked at the blond. "You're trying to take the title of Hokage, the ninja that everyone in the village will respect." Naruto looked to the sky. "I recently found a person who recognizes my, and that's him over there," he then pointed at me.

"Being a ninja is hard. Painful. Sometimes, even lonely. But if being a ninja is something you're serious about, _be serious _about it!" Naruto pointed to Ebisu. "If he wants you to recite shinobi rules of conduct, do push-ups while you do so! If he wants you to run laps around a field, take some shuriken and practice your aim while you run! Make whatever you do into more than it is! If you never push yourself, you'll never improve!"

Naruto trained a serious look on his riveted audience. "And yes, there will be people, however few, that will try to tell you that you're no good. That you'll never achieve anything. They'll make you feel horrible about yourself, and some days you might even doubt why you should bother with all this hard work. But no matter what happens, no matter what they say that might make you consider trying to find some easy way to the top, you absolutely have to remember one critical truth." Naruto stared down his junior.

"Oh yeah? What truth is that?" Konohamaru demanded to know.

"There-are-_**NO**_-shortcuts!" Naruto shouted out to the world so loudly, a group of birds were startled out of the nearby trees with loud rustling as they took to the air. "Could you look at yourself in the mirror if you knew you didn't try your hardest? Do you think the village would respect a Hokage who just settled for 'easy'? Either you commit yourself to this... or don't insult real ninja by wasting peoples time."

The boy in question stood looking up at Naruto, his face a little red from the overload of information that had come crashing down on him. Konohamaru turned away from Naruto with a huff.

"Ha! Who do you think you are, lecturing me like that!? You're not so hot, are you?" He turned his nose up, but Naruto only smirked at his reaction. "Well, forget it! I won't be your apprentice any longer! In fact, from this day on, we're eternal rivals! Got it?" Konohamaru tried to glare at Naruto, but it turned into a chuckling smile.

"Well, isn't that just fine. This was a one-day thing anyway, because tomorrow, we get assigned into our gennin teams. However..." Naruto let a huge foxy smile free. "I accept your challenge to be my rival. But keep in mind that you have a lot of catching up to do. You'll have to train as hard as you can if you intend to compete with me for the title of Hokage!" Naruto glanced up at the setting light of the sky. "Well, we've got to get going now. But don't think you can slack off! Because I might just check up on you from time to time! You got that, Konohamaru?" He smirked one last time as we waved and headed off.

"Naruto, let's hurry and get that coat for you before the shops close," I said before we started running back towards the centre of Konoha.

-Hokage Tower-

Sarutobi watched the scene from his crystal ball.

"The real path to become a ninja has only begun," he smiled.

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**Well here it is! Hope hope you like it. review and tell me what you think!**

**in the next chapter i will try to give Neo a new world saving mission crisis and include a special training for him to reach high jonin level before the team test.**

** Also if you want to take some challenges go to my profile.**


	4. New threat, training and team 7

**Will of Fire: My New Life**

**Review time**

**xxOMGgalxx: thanks and I will try to make the story as best as I can for everyone to enjoy**

**pmiranda13: Neo will be joining team 7 as he will try to help everyone become stronger and change their future as some of them doesn't have to die (Hayate before the suna invasion) or become evil (Sasuke's defection). However he will get his own special team in the time when getting special missions and dealing with monsters from another world depending in appearance in each village.**

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except my OC

* * *

**Chapter 4: new threat, training and team 7**

After getting Naruto his new clothes I got back home and went to sleep. It was then that I felt a strange pull all over my body, as I opened my eyes I was in the same white void where I met god when I first died.

"Hi there Neo" I turned my back and saw Tina standing next to me, smiling.

"Hey Tina, it's nice to see you again. Sorry for not having some time to talk with you since a lot of things happened."

The goddess waved my apology aside. "Don't worry about it. I actually brought you here because there is a new threat that is coming into the Element nations."

_'A new threat?' _was all I could think before I reigned in my thoughts and answered her. "Could you please explain to me what this threat is if you don't mind?"

She smiled again, something I would never get tired of seeing then she got a serious face. "I know that you need help Naruto to defeat a terrible enemy. However there is another evil monster that has the ability to create and control monsters strong enough to eliminate large cites and it has set its sights on to the Elemental Nations because of the large energy. It will send monsters in different locations to absorb the planet's life force and if it succeeded it will have powers even higher than the Juubi used his terrible strength to bring pain and suffering to the humans."

Wait a minute? That monster description was very familiar to me and I've got a hunch about this.

"By any chance is that monster an Ancient dragon god named Elchulus, ruler of the Fomors?" After I said my suspicions I saw her eyes widen in shock which confirmed it. _'Now that's just great the new threat is actually a very hard boss from the Vindictus video game, I never thought that it was real.'_

"I know that it will be a hard quest but for this case I will let you have another bloodline and ability for you to choose so thinks carefully" I thought very hard on this and knew what kind of an ability I need to stand a chance against this.

"I would like to have the Saiyan bloodline and if possible I would like for me to have a device that has the ability to create a portal sending me to a Hyperbolic time chamber of my own custom"

"Very well Neo but be careful and as some of the monsters minimum strength is high Chunin level and you would need all the help that you can get to defeat them" Tina's eyes glowed and I felt a strange sensation all over my body. It was then I heard a pop behind me and I saw that I have a tail. After I thanked her I felt my body disappear from the void.

After I woke up I heard a small noise next to me and turned my face to find there, lying on the top of the table was an object that at first glance looked like a watch. But as I looked closely I saw that where you could normally see the time, there was just blackness. I buckled the watch around my wrist and touched the black surface.

Instantly white exploded around me and I felt myself pass through a massive amount of air before it stopped and I looked around. Instantly I realised that I had been transported. But to where?

I took one step and immediately noticed something rising out of the floor. As soon as whatever it was had stopped, I took a closer look at it. It was some sort of flat panel screen, like what you see in some sci-fi films. At the moment there was nothing displayed on the screen. Having nothing else to do I stepped forward and touched the panel.

Instantly the screen flashed into life. Several lines of text appeared on the screen. The characters were in a language I didn't understand, but the symbols looked futuristic. I stood there, not knowing what to do for a few seconds before a green laser field swept over my face. I realised that it was scanning me.

As soon as it had finished the screen flashed once before another set of lines appeared, only this time it was in English.

Welcome to the Training Room. To start your training please select your 'Time Compression Ratio' please.

Underneath were several ratios. They seemed to range from 1 minute: 1 minute, to 1 minute: 1 month.

I remembered something like this before. _'I see. It's kinda like the Hyperbolic Time Chamber from DragonBall Z but this time I can choose how much time I need for training'_

Realising that the screen was still waiting for a command to be chosen I pressed the 1 minute: 1 month button. The whiteness around me seemed to get brighter for a few seconds before going back to normal. I looked back to the screen to see something different.

Thankyou. Your ID has been saved and your Time Compression Ratio set.

Which background would you like simulated?

There were a bunch of new options like 'Large City' and 'Beach'. There were also choices like 'Dojo' and 'Island'. Next to all these choices were small pictures of what they looked like. After scrolling through some I found the perfect spot. It was called 'Sanctuary' and looked like a large grassy clearing in a forest with a small waterfall and a large flat stone on the grass. There was also Advanced Options but I filed that for later use. I pressed the button and watched as the new world fell into place around me.

At first there were just streams of pixels running down like rain. But then the Pixel rain fell harder and harder, filling up the whiteness with brilliant colour. And what a sight it was. The field was beautiful, emerald green grass. There were soft green trees surrounding the perimeter of the clearing. The waterfall gushed crystal clear water where it pooled in an even half circle against the light grey stone cliff. A low platform of the same rock was placed near the centre of the clearing. Above me was a cerulean blue sky with large fluffy clouds dancing across. There was no sun but the whole place was lit as it there was one.

"Wow…" I breathed as I took it all in. I looked to the waterfall again and saw that there was a door etched into the cliff. Making my way over I placed my hand on the stone and watched as the slab swung inwards. I walked in and got the surprise of my life.

Inside was what looked like the interior of a rich western styled house. Rich polished wood made up the walls. Walking further inside I noticed that the whole space was split up into 5 rooms, a living room, bedroom, kitchen, bathroom and laundry room. Each room was fitted with all the things I would need. I walked into the kitchen and saw pots and pans hanging from above. There was a large fridge, freezer, sink, appliances and more. Taking a peek inside the fridge I looked in awe as the shelves inside were full to bursting with fresh vegetables, milk, spreads, and more.

The other rooms were just as spectacular. The bedroom had a very soft queen sized bed and everything you would expect to see in a hotel bedroom. The living room had pictures hanging up on the walls. Looking closer I realised that they were parts of my memories. The bathroom had a massive spa bath built into the floor. And the laundry room had a front load washer and drier inside.

_'Well, since I have a month in here we might as well train.'_

In The First week I trained in using my sword and getting used to handling the blade. I also trained with my Tail, Ki energy, tree walking and water walking. By the end of the week I got rid of my tail weakness, got my chakra into high jonin level and learned the three basic sword and fist skills from Disgaea.

Using the sword was easier then I first thought. Thanks to the fact that it weighed as much as a typical steel katana in its first form, the sword was incredibly easy to wield. It felt like I was wielding a katana. This would help in making quick strikes.

After I took a break it was time I use my summoning contract to get prepared. I then went through sets of seal gathering a massive amount of chakra then slammed his right hand in the ground shouting, "**Kuchiyose no Jutsu.**" Suddenly a 40-foot in diameter section of the clearing was set ablaze. Under my feet a portal made of fire opened up and from it rose what seemed like a giant bird made purely of fire, but if you look closely there could be seen a bird was actually inside the fire and I was standing in the midst of the fire on the mighty birds beak.

When its foot touched the ground, it trembled under the bird's size. Now as the bird took in its surroundings it folded its mighty dark red wings with orange feather sticking out into a casual position. It's brilliant orange feathers covering its body calmed down and laid back, and its once flaming tail feathers came to a rest. On top of its head were three red feather set vertically.

The Phoenix then moved its gaze to look at me with it's surprisingly crystal blue eyes took in the appearance of the one who summoned it before speaking **"Are you the person who summoned me from my slumber?"** when I replied with a nod as he didn't trust his voice due to his amazement, the Phoenix continued speaking, "**My name Ruygin, the Head of the Phoenix Clan. If you want the help from my kind, you need to pass the test I shall give you." **stated the Phoenix as if reading off a script.

"So what is it I have to do Ruygin-sama?" I asked as humbly as the proud boy could, which wasn't very humble as I held a raw determination in my eyes and voice.

**"Look into my eyes boy, and tell me...what do you plan on using the power of my kin for?" **asked Ruygin as he peered into my soul with glowing cold blue eyes _**'Hmmm I sense no corruption he may be the first…wait what's this? A different dimension huh? Hmm it appears that he met god and he's given a mission to defeat a powerful enemy…the boy's determination and loyalty to protect his friends even if he sacrificed himself…he truly is a remarkable child.' **_Thought the mighty Summon as I spoke.

"I plan on working with them to protect all those precious to me, as well as this village and the entire universe. Even though I'm not strong enough to defeat this evil I will train harder and push my body beyond its limits to protect them all, because I am a Ninja of Konohagakue no Sato!" I said in a voice overflowing with grit and determination as if daring the beast to question his answer, which he believed in with his whole heart and soul.

"**Alright boy you pass the test." **replied the great winged bird.

"If I may ask Ruygin-sama, what was the test?" I asked as I tilted my head in confusion.

With a tremendous chuckled Ruygin responded, **"Well hatchling that was a test of your soul. If I sensed your soul was corrupt in the slightest way, or your answer untrue I would have destroyed you. You passed cause your soul is pure, and answer true which is a must among my clan. Now I have a gift for you hatchling, roll up your left sleeve." **finished the great bird.

Once I complied a feather drifted from the Summons brow, before landing on my forearm. Seconds later there was a red flash and the sound of flesh burning before I was engulfed in my own chakra for several moments. I was then after it finished I saw a tattoo.

Upon seeing the look of confusion on my face Ruygin decided to tell me what occurred.

**" I just applied my clans unique summoning tattoo. Though I'm quite surprised, that tattoo is unique to my clan; it has a…. storage so to speak. You will be able to fill its reservoir with chakra and that is what happened. It forcibly took all the chakra it could handle from you, this will allow you to summon us by merely applying blood to it and choosing the amount you wish to use. The reason I'm surprised is that mark can hold enough to summon me five times, and counting that you already summoned me plus the tattoo itself taking about half as much as it takes to summon me just to be applied, so I'm surprised you had that much chakra."**

"Arigato Ruygin-sama." I thanked him getting a nod from the summon.

**"Until next time." **said Ruygin disappearing in large swirl of fire.

In The second week I trained in my body getting used to the gravity and handeling the kaioken technique. I also used the shadow clone jutsu which got me about 100 clones and got each ten of them to train on, chakra control, street fighter and sword techniques. By the end of the week I can transform into kaioken into level 3, got my chakra into ANBU level, learned three advanced sword and fist skills from Disgaea and learned all of ken's and ryu's fighting styles from street fighter.

Doing the chakra control exercises went by quickly as well thanks to the **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu**. Tree walking was mastered in a few hours to the point where it became automatic. It was the same for water walking but that took several hours.

And finally using Ki energy was a great success. I was now able to create Ki blast attacks with the power of a moderate strength explosion note. They also were launched much more quickly where each one would fly at roughly 100 km/h and there would be as many as five in the air at one time. I had come so far that I used an extra day to utilise it in my Kenjutsu. I could now channel Ki through the sword and create waves of destructive Ki energy reminiscent of one of the moves Kurosaki Ichigo uses in Bleach, and Cloud's Blade Beam limit break.

In The last week and half I focused all my training in my body getting used to the gravity pushing it beyond it's limits. I also used the shadow clone jutsu which got me about 150 clones and got each fifty of them to train on chakra, Ki, 25 each on fist and sword techniques. By the end of the week I got my chakra into low kage level, learned legendary sword and fist skills from Disgaea, learned flight and got my strength and speed level so high that I can, wield a large zanbato like a normal sword, create after images which can prove very deadly to the enemy and make a large crater with one punch.

After the month was up the room dissolved back into its white look.

_'Uh… I wonder how I get back,'_ I thought. I glanced down as the watch that was still wrapped around my wrist before bringing my wrist closer to my face. _'Maybe if I…'_ I wondered before pressing the black surface again. The whiteness immediately disappeared and I felt like I was being dragged backwards extremely quickly. It was then I returned to my room and saw that the clock only moved 1 minute.

_'I guess a minute really did pass out here while a whole month passed in the Training Room. Sweet!'_ I thought as I got myself prepared, hid my tail and went with Naruto for the team placement.

It seemed that it was a strange sight as Naruto and I walked into the classroom. Everyone was staring at us, or rather, at Naruto. Two reasons. The first was probably why he was here. And the second and most probably the biggest reason was his complete change of wardrobe. I could see the forming of Naruto's new fan-club as girls were blushing at him. Since he wasn't wearing the loose jumpsuit anymore his quite prominent muscles were showing through the muscle shirt that he now wore. We had met up before walking to the academy together. The walk was pleasant aside from Konohamaru 'ambushing' us.

I scanned all the people that were here. As soon as my eyes looked over Hinata looking at naruto she blushed and turned the other way. _' I know that Naruto is dense but this is ridiculous'_ I thought before looking at Naruto. It seemed he didn't look at Hinata.

I led the way to sitting next to the window, mentioning for Naruto to go first. The seat near the window was left empty while Naruto and I sat in the other seats. I was closer to the isle. After a few minutes Sasuke entered the classroom. He took one look round, spotted us, and then started walking toward us.

"hey there Sasuke what do you want?" I asked in a friendly tone. Sasuke's face twitched. "Move," was all he said.

"Why should I do that, Uchiha?" I asked in the same tone. He didn't answer but I noticed his eyes slide to his left before snapping back to me. I looked round him and saw most of the girls looking at him hungrily. "Ahh, I see," I saw his plan, but decided to try to get something out of this and try to help him get friends. "Uchiha, in order for this to happen, you will owe us a favour,"

"What?" he said, obviously trying to keep his anger in check.

"_Each_," I stressed. Sasuke said nothing so I turned to Naruto. "Naruto, would you mind moving over a seat? I'll sit in your seat so Sasuke can sit in my seat." Naruto seemed brighter than he looked as he smirked and started rising out of his seat. The sound of a fist slamming the table was heard as I turned back to Sasuke. "Yes Sasuke? Was there something you wanted to say?" I asked mockingly. Sasuke paused before saying in a whisper, "Ok,"

"I'm sorry, what was that?" I smirked at him. Again it seemed that his emotions were going to get the best of him but again he suppressed them. "Ok, I owe you…_both_," These were all incredibly forced words, but I still smirked.

"It looks like we have a deal. In protecting you against the undefeatable, you owe us both a favour," I smiled as I moved out of the way, Naruto doing the same. Sasuke shuffled rather quickly to the seat that costed him two favours. Naruto and I smirked at each other, slapping high-fives. It was at that moment that the two top Sasuke worshipers burst through the door, huffing and puffing. Ino looked at her rival. "I win again, Sakura."

"What are you talking about? My toe entered the class before yours by a centimetre," countered pinky AKA Sakura.

Sakura then spotted the resident brooder and ran over to get to him, only for me to get in her way.

"Get out of the way!" she demanded. I looked at her and smiled. "No," I simply said. She tried again, this time with a threat. "Out of the way or I'll bash you good!" I yawned while keeping my eye on her. "Make me," I challenged. Sakura wasted no time in trying to punch me. Note the keyword here is 'try'. I blocked every single punch she threw my way.

"Why do you like Sasuke?"

She looked at me as if I were mad. She straightened up. "Well because he's cool and strong and handsome looking," she rattled off as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. I noticed that everyone was now listening in.

"That's it?" I asked. Sakura opened her mouth to bite back but the words failed to come out of her mouth.

"Sakura, you don't know much about him. Instead of going for someone you've only heard rumours about, you need to go and ask him personally in order the have a friendly relationship or go for someone else. I'll give you a few candidates." I pointed to Naruto. "Naruto here is a happy-go-lucky person who is charming and always trustworthy. He's faithful and kind, not to mention he would always be there for you as a friend." I then moved on to Chouji.

"Chouji maybe on the plump side, but that doesn't matter. In the whole world, 80 of overweight people are some of the most friendly, loyal, kind and loving people on earth." I moved on to Kiba.

"Kiba is an Inuzuka and they are fiercely loyal to anyone they consider part of their pack. You could not find a more faithful partner than an Inuzuka." I then turned my attention back to Sakura.

"And if you really cared for Sasuke, then you would notice that he doesn't like fan-girls. Someone wise once told me, 'The more you ask for it, the more annoying it gets and the less likely you'll get what you want.' This applies to everything except getting a job. And even after all this if you still want to go out with the Uchiha, prove your strength. Prove you are strong enough to stand at his side. And as for your attitudes, change them. We are now ninja. Professional killers. You have to put behind these childish crushes." I took a deep breath and looked at the space in front of me. "That is all I have to say," I finished.

The silence around me brought justice to the saying 'You could hear a pin drop'. Naruto, Chouji and Kiba were looking at me in awe while Sasuke was surprised at me defending him but didn't show it on his face. Sakura and the rest of the fan-girls were shocked. At that moment Iruka walked into the classroom.

"Huh? What's wrong guys?" he asked. No-one answered him. "Ok then. Starting today, you are all official ninjas but you are all still new genins. It's going to get harder from here. You all will be in a group of three except Team 7 since there are an odd number of graduates. In this group you will accomplish missions under a Jounin teacher." At this last sentence a few people's eyes widened.

"We've arranged the groups such that overall abilities are equivalent. I will now announce them." The whole class tensed. Iruka went through teams 1 to 6, but I wasn't interested in these.

"Next, Team 7 is… Horyu Neo," I smiled.

"Uzumaki Naruto," Naruto and I slapped each other high-fives.

"Haruno Sakura," everyone expected Naruto to be jumping for joy but he was strangely quiet. _'I'll have to ask him about that,'_ I thought.

"And Uchiha Sasuke," Again, everyone knew that Sakura's crush on Sasuke was legendary but she also was quiet.

"Next Team 8, Hyuuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino. Next, Team 9." I again tuned out for this.

"Next, Team 10. Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru, and Akimichi Chouji. That's it for the groups." The class mumbled but that was it. Ino was looking at Chouji in a neutral way, probably rethinking about her crush on Sasuke.

"I'm going to introduce the Jounin teachers in the afternoon. Meeting adjourned until then!" Iruka finished.

Naruto spoke up, "I would ask you if you want to join us for lunch seeing as we're teammates now but something tells me you're gonna say no."

Sakura turned on him and started shouting, "Naruto! Shut up! You're so..." At this point she had finally turned around and taken notice of his new clothes. She obviously also noticed how his new clothes showed off the body he would usually cover up with the jumpsuit. She just stood there open mouthed and gawking at his body.

Naruto waited a couple of seconds expecting her to answer him. He then waved his hand in front of her eyes, "Sakura-san? Hello?" When she didn't answer he just shrugged and we walked off for Ichiraku's. We got outside only to be confronted by Chouji and Kiba.

"Hey guys, what's up?" I asked in a friendly manner.

"Well, we just wanted to say thanks," said Kiba with Chouji nodded.

"No need. I just told the truth." I answered. "We were about to grab some lunch at Ichiraku's. Want to come with me? I'll be paying," I asked.

"Sure!" said Kiba enthusiastically. I turned to Chouji. "Although you are restricted to three bowls mister," I turned to Naruto. "This means you as well." We all laughed. I spotted someone peeking round a tree at us. "Chouji, how about you invite Shikamaru while I invite Sasuke?" I asked. He nodded and went to find his friend. "Kiba, you go find Shino; see if he wants to join us," "Ok," he answered as he rushed off to find bugman.

I then walked toward the tree and, without looking round it, said, "You're welcome to join us too, Hinata," I then turned round and walked back to Naruto. Chouji had been successful in his search but Kiba said that Shino had something else to do. We all then trouped off to the ramen bar. Halfway there Hinata joined us, blushing furiously.

We all got back to the classroom on time. The lunch was nice, hearing everyone's story. We laughed and joked around. To sum it up, it was enjoyable.

All the other Jounin had picked up their charges and now it was just us. Even Iruka had left.

I was sharing my music with Naruto and it looked like he really enjoyed my music. Both of us were nodding our heads in time to the beat. I opened my eyes to see Sakura standing in front of us. I stopped the music and looked at her. "Is there something you want?"

"What music are you guys listening to?" she asked. I raised one of my eyebrows. "Do you want to listen?" She nodded hesitantly. I took off mine and Naruto's earphone and set a new song. I turned up the volume and played the song. The sound of heavy metal rang through the classroom. Naruto and I nodded our heads and tapped our feet to the beat. Sakura was a bit shocked. It seemed that she had never heard this kind of music. Even Sasuke was tapping his finger to the tune.

"I've never heard of songs like them before," Sakura said softly. "Yeah," Naruto agreed, nodding his head. Sasuke stayed quiet.

I quirked my eyebrow up in confusion but at that moment I felt the door behind me open. I instantly grabbed a kunai from one of the holsters under my jacket and threw it over my shoulder. It imbedded itself in the door frame right in front of the Jounin's face. Both Sasuke and Sakura looked at him strangely. "You're late sensei." I said as I turned around to see the Jounin walk in with his one eye not giving any emotion away. He grabbed the kunai and tossed it back to me; I caught it with ease and placed it back in the holster under my jacket.

"Now that wasn't a very nice greeting. I wasn't that late." He said in a sort of monotone. "Either way I want to meet you all on the roof, now." At that he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

I looked at Sasuke and Sakura and contemplated the use of the flame Shunshin jutsu to get to the roof and give them a surprise but decided against it. "We better get going," was all I said as Naruto and I got up to leave.

When we got to the roof the Jounin was already there sitting at the far end. He gestured for us to sit down. "Alright how about we get to know each other? Introduce yourselves." He said in the same monotone voice.

Sakura raised her hand almost instantly. "Um. Sensei what should we say?"

"Well you should obviously say your names. Maybe then you could say your likes and dislikes, your hobbies and maybe your dreams." Replied the Jounin.

"Why don't you go first? We can't keep calling you just sensei, sensei." Suggested Naruto.

"Okay. My names Hatake Kakashi. I have no intention of telling you my likes and dislikes. As for my dreams... I have few hobbies."

_'Just as I thought,'_ I already knew the lazy intro he was going to say.

"Okay what about you with the pink." Kakashi said pointing toward Sakura who was sitting in between the other two.

"I'm Haruno Sakura! I like... well the person I like is... And my hobbies are... well, my dream is to...!" She hid her face with her hands at this point, in embarrassment and confusion. All the time she had been saying this she had been looking between Naruto and Sasuke not sure which one to settle on.

"Anything you hate?" Asked Kakashi still not giving away emotion.

"INO-PIG!" She shouted instantly.

"Okay what about you blondie?" He said while pointing at Naruto, to the left of Sakura.

"The name's Uzumaki Naruto!" Shouted Naruto with confidence. "I like ramen and training and my friend Neo. I dislike the 3 minute wait after adding water to the ramen cup, when making instant ramen. I got some hobbies but I ain't saying what they are. My dream... is to be HOKAGE!" He yelled the last part for emphasis. Sakura was looking at him strangely, Sasuke just narrowed his eyes at him and Kakashi just looked bored with his eyes revealing nothing.

"Alright, emo-kid you're up last."

"I'M NOT EMO!" Sasuke yelled, his eyebrow twitching. I just erupted into laughter. _'EMO-KID! Ohhh classics are often the best.'_ I thought as I decided to play a prank.

"Fine, just get on with the introduction..." Everyone thought that Kakashi had finished at that but Naruto managed to hear the quiet, _"Emo-kid.", _that Kakashi had said under his breath. This caused Naruto and me to stifle another chuckle.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. There are many things I hate, there aren't a lot of things that I like. Also, I have an ambition that I have no intention to leave as just a dream." Both Sakura and Naruto were now listening intently to what Sasuke was saying, Kakashi just looked on as usual. "The revival of my clan and to... kill a certain man."

"Alright, now you Whity," said Kakashi.

"My name is Horyu Neo. I like all my friends, training, my music and living. I dislike Traitors, arrogant people and people who pick on my friends. My hobbies are hanging out with Naruto, listening to music, inventing new techniques, weapon smithing and travelling. My dreams for the future are to become the strongest shinobi in the world, test my limits and to be a better seals master than the Yondaime and Jiraiya, and finally my mission is to defeat an evil creature that is targeting the entire elemental nations and protect everyone precious to me" I said. Kakashi raised his eyes at my mention of my mission and my dreams but nodded at me and will ask about it later.

"Alright you four have unique personalities. So far, I like that." Kakashi said while looking over us all. "We're going on a mission tomorrow. It's something the five of us can do together, some survival training."

Sakura raised her hand instantly and asked, "Why are we going to train when it's a mission? Didn't we get enough training at the academy?"

"This is no ordinary training. If I say this, I'm sure the four of you are going to be surprised. Out of the 27 graduates, only nine will become genins. The other 18 will be sent back to the academy. In other words, this training is going to be a very hard test with a dropout rate of sixty-six percent," said Kakashi while grinning.

"Liar," I said softly but loud enough for all to hear. Kakashi looked at me. "Ooohhh and why do you think that?"

"Because the village needs all the ninja that they can get. What would happen if all the graduators pass the test? The Hokage wouldn't encourage people to do their best only to be shot down because they weren't in the 34 margin. Nice try Kakashi-sensei."

Kakashi smirked at me before looking over us again and said, "Alright, the test is going to be at training grounds 7 tomorrow morning at 7am. Oh! Before I go, I suggest you don't eat any breakfast."

He started going through some hand signs quickly until Sakura asked another question. "Why's that sensei?"

He looked up and simply said, "Because you'll puke." He then vanished in a puff of smoke.

"Don't listen to his advice about breakfast, have what you usually have for breakfast. Don't worry about the time of the test; he'll be late again tomorrow. We might as well wait until tomorrow to make a plan," I said. Sasuke and Sakura just nodded before walking off. I turned to Naruto. "Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow Naruto," I waved at him before flame shunshining off the roof.

The first thing I did was go visit the Hokage and asked if I could borrow a jutsu scroll.

"What's the technique Neo," he asked. I smiled at him. "Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu." Sarutobi nodded. "An upper C class jutsu. That's fine. Wait here and I'll get my assistant to find it. Izumo!" he said sharply. One of the gate guards appeared in front of the seasoned leader. "Sir!"

"I need you to get an upper C class doton jutsu for me please. It's the Shinjuu Zanshu," explained Sarutobi.

"Hai!" Izumo said before vanishing again. The Hokage then turned his attention back to me.

"So, how are things for you?" he asked.

"Not bad. I bought Naruto a new set of clothes yesterday. After all, you can't be a respectable ninja if you dress in orange," I said. Sarutobi chuckled. I then said, "Hey I need to ask you something privately." Sarutobi nodded and flashed through a few seals before casting the jutsu. "Now what is it you wanted to ask me?"

"Hey old man! How's the paperwork now?" I asked cheerfully.

Hiruzen chuckled as he stepped through the open window. "A great success! I now have so much free time that I can now just stroll around my village without having to worry about the paperwork."

"Good to know. A leader needs to keep a close eye on his kingdom and he can't do that when he can't see beyond the towers of paperwork," I said. Hiruzen nodded.

"Actually there is something I need to tell you" I then explained the new threat that is happening that is coming into the Elemental nations. The Hokage paled that there is a monster that is stronger than the kyuubi with the ability to create different creatures and he told me that if there are strange things happening he will inform me and give me a mission for it.

"Now what is it the question you wanted to ask me?"

"Is the Namikaze compound still standing?" Sarutobi was shocked. "Why would you want to know that?" he asked. I smiled again. "It's time he knows the truth. After the discovery of the Kyuubi inside of him I think you should come clean with him. And if you're worried that someone might discover the truth then just swear him to secrecy. He needs to know who his mother and father were." Sarutobi sighed. "You're right. I guess it is time. Do you know where he is?"

"I think you should tell him after the genin exam. If you told him now, he would be distracted." I reasoned. The Hokage nodded and released the jutsu. Just then the door opened and Izumo walked in holding a small scroll. "Here you go sir," he said as he placed the scroll on the desk. "Thank you Izumo," thanked the Hokage before dismissing him. "Neo, when he moves in, could you also move in with him?" he asked.

"I was actually going to ask you that. Yes, I will." I stood up and picked up the scroll. "And thank you for the jutsu. See you old man," I finished as flames erupted around me, teleporting me out of the office and on top of the building. I then bounded off to the park to learn the jutsu. It took one and a half hours to get that jutsu down. By this time the sun had set and the city lights were out. I decided to get back to the hotel. After I arrived I got to work in making some basic paralysis seals. _'They will come in handy in stalling Kakashi,'_ I thought before finishing up and going to sleep.

I woke up a little after 7am. I took a shower and got dressed fairly quickly, making sure I remembered the kunai holsters under my coat and Sigma blade. I rolled up the paralysis seals that I made last night and placed them in a small pocket next to the unused summoning scrolls inside my coat.

I decided to swing by Ichiraku's to get some food. I only had one bowl but I ordered three takeout ramen and sealed them into the previously used summoning scroll. Tucking it away I waved goodbye to Ayame and Teuchi.

I finally arrived at the training grounds at 8:45am. When I arrived the first thing I saw were two very tired, very hungry looking genin hopefuls, namely, Sakura and Sasuke. Naruto was there as well but he looked like he was fine. _'Those two haven't taken my advice about eating breakfast or getting there purposefully late and it seems to have taken its toll on them.'_ I thought. Each looked like they were about to collapse in fatigue. I just sighed and walked over to the group.

"I thought as much, neither of you took my advice did you? You do realize Kakashi only suggested that we skip breakfast? Also, you did notice how late he was yesterday? At least Naruto was smart enough to heed my advice." I sighed at the two again, pulling out the scroll and summoning the ramen takeout. I handed one to Sakura as she said a silent "Thanks, Neo." and started eating. Sasuke, on the other hand, looked at the ramen like it was his worst enemy. "I'm not going to eat that! If I eat this Kakashi-sensei will most probably fail me straight away!"

"Trust me Sasuke. Kakashi-sensei is trying to use our hunger to his advantage and unless you eat something, you're going to be a liability. Now eat that ramen before I force feed it to you, it's for your own good!"

Sasuke just glared at me and ate the food slowly. I gave the last takeout to Naruto who smiled before inhaling the food in less than 5 seconds.

At that moment Kakashi arrived on the scene via shunshin. "Sorry I'm late. I-" started Kakashi.

"Don't even try it Kakashi!" Naruto broke-in.

Kakashi looked at Naruto with a fake hurt expression. "You didn't even let me try! Oh, well on to the test. It's pretty simple, all you have to do is get these bells off of me before noon." He took out three bells and held them up for us to see. He also took out an alarm clock and set it for noon.

"But Kakashi-sensei! There are only three bells and four of us." Sakura pointed out.

"Exactly only three of you can pass. Once you have a bell you pass, if you don't get a bell then you fail and you have to watch as whoever did pass eat these two lunches I prepared." Kakashi pulled out three bento boxes. Everyone just looked at them uninterested, seeing as I had fed them already. Kakashi narrowed his eyes slightly. _'Probably at the lack of a response from us,'_ I thought.

"Also, if you fail you have to go back to the academy, although I'm guessing you already figured that out from what I said yesterday." Kakashi walked over to three posts on the other end of the training grounds and placed the three bento boxes and the alarm clock on top of the middle post.

"So when do we start Kakashi-sensei?" I asked with a smirk.

"Well first, I should tell you if you want to get these bells that you're gonna have to come at me with everything you have. That means you have to have an intent to kill, you can use anything you want, kunai, shuriken and anything else you may have." Replied Kakashi with an eye-smile.

"But that's too dangerous Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura yelled in fear for the Jounin's life.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine." He replied. "By the way the test starts now!"

At that, we all sped into the trees for cover. As soon as I was out of sight I created several clones. I instructed two to find Naruto and two to find Sakura. Then one clone from each pair was to lead them to myself while the other was to henge into the person they were assigned to and for them to stay where they were. The fifth was to stay here in my place. As the four clones sped off to find their targets, I bounded off to find Sasuke.

Not far into the search I felt my fifth clone disperse. 'That bastard! How dare he use Sennen Goroshi on me. Well I'll just have to introduce you to Sigma Sword!' I thought furiously. After a couple of minutes I found Sasuke. I had to knock him out before going to the meeting place. As I arrived I saw that Naruto and Sakura were already there. I woke up Sasuke and started telling them of my plan.

"Okay then now that that's sorted. You guys get going on the traps I'm gonna find a place to hide and wait for Kakashi. Hopefully one of the kage bushin will be able to survive long enough to lead him to this place." I said as Naruto and I began to turn away and head for the trees.

"Wait a second! Why is it you and the dobe who gets to go after Kakashi?" Asked Sasuke a little angry.

"Because I have the perfect way of bringing him down Teme. And don't worry you three can have the bells; I just want to see the look on Kakashi face when he sees what I have in store for him. Now get going, he's already gotten rid of two of my kage bushin." I ordered as we both bounded into the trees to wait. It was then I felt the Sakura clone get destroyed by a genjutsu. I whistled to the others to signal that Kakashi had dealt with all but one of the kage bushin and was currently on his way toward us. The two quickly hid behind the bushes were they could set off all the traps. I sent another clone to them.

They then got up to see Kakashi standing a few feet from the bushes staring straight Sasuke, Sakura and my clone. "Alright, time's almost up, now are the real 'you's' going to finally try and get the bells from me or what?" Kakashi asked turning to his orange book about half way through his speech.

The three smirked at him and said in unison, "Hai!" As soon as the word left their mouth's a multitude of shuriken and kunai were thrown at him.

Kakashi thought as he took out a kunai and blocked each and every weapon thrown at him not once looking up from his book. As he was still blocking the projectiles my clone and Sasuke jumped in to attack him. They both hit their mark only to have it turn into a log. The barrage of weapons had stopped now so the two looked around trying to figure out where he had gone.

All of a sudden the ground beneath both of them crumbled and Kakashi's hands came up, grabbed both their ankles and pulled them under leaving only their heads above ground.

Kakashi looked down at the two as he said, "Ninja lesson 3: Ninjutsu, Doton: Shinju Zanshu no Jutsu." He then froze. "What's going on?" He asked no one in particular. Naruto then walked into his field of vision. "Naruto? You did this?" he asked. "Somewhat," Naruto answered before I appeared on the scene.

"How do you like my paralysis seal Kakashi-sensei?" I asked the immobile jounin while I created a clone to get Sasuke out of the ground. I went over to the jounin and unfastened the three bells. "I'll take these. Hey Sakura! Catch!" I yelled throwing one her way then holding the other out to Sasuke when he was out of the jutsu. Sasuke just glared at me and snatched the bell. I handed the last one to Naruto. "So this means that they pass right Kakashi-sensei?"

"Yes." Kakashi answered.

"Well then for me to pass I'll take this!" I said as I slipped the orange book out from his hands. He looked like he was just about to protest before he heard "Doton: Shinju Zanshu no Jutsu!" He then found himself buried to his neck.

"How about now? Do I pass?" I asked sweetly. "Yes." Kakashi answered. I smiled as my clone pushed Kakashi out of the ground. He smiled.

"You realized the purpose of this test and got the four of you to work together to take me down. The purpose was to see if you could work as a team and you did. You knew that me telling you not to eat breakfast was so I could use your hunger against you, so you brought food for your team-mates. There is a saying I like to follow, those who break the rules are trash but-"

"-Those who abandon their friends are worse than trash." I finished.

Kakashi did an eye-smile and answered, "Exactly! Now that you all passed could you please take the paralysis seal off me?" Kakashi asked with an eye smile.

"Why don't you just break it? Being a Jounin you must have a strong enough will to break it. I mean it's a pretty simple seal." I replied, hands behind my head.

Kakashi simply replied, "I'm too lazy."

I sighed as the others sweat dropped. "Okay give me a second." I said as I walked back over to Kakashi. I peeled off the paper seal and rolled it back up; setting it back in my coat.

"Now then, you three can have tomorrow off. I need to get some paperwork done concerning you three becoming genin. Meet me here the day after tomorrow at 8am and we'll start on your training and missions. Dismissed!" Kakashi announced and started to leave for the Hokage tower while Sasuke and Sakura were leaving the training grounds.

I turned to Naruto. "Let's go celebrate with ramen!" I said as we both left together.

* * *

**Well here it is! Sorry it took some time and hope you like it. review and tell me what you think!**


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